Happy Creative appointed for YMCA mental health campaign

Happy Creative, the Blackpool-based marketing and creative agency, is helping drive the success of the YMCA’s initiative to help more young people experience positive mental health.

The Changing Futures campaign is a YMCA England and Wales programme developed with young people and targeting 11-18 year olds.

Four children in every classroom have a mental health disorder. 700 young people take their own lives each year, and suicide is the most common cause of death for boys aged 5-19. Yet only a quarter of the young people who need support get it.

This was the background presented to Happy Creative for the YMCA’s Changing Future’s campaign, which builds on the organisation’s 175 year legacy of support for young people in communities around the world. The YMCA commissioned Happy to create an awareness campaign targeted at branches to drive uptake of the funding and support available at local level.

The campaign collateral, which includes posters, leaflets and social media graphics, has generated a hugely positive response from branches. With many YMCAs now signed up to deliver the service.

Speaking about the campaign, Mike Vernon, national project coordinator of YMCA England and Wales said: “Last year, YMCAs impacted positively on the lives of 630,000 people in the UK, including 228,000 young people.”

“Mental health plays a key role in the lives of many of those who seek our help, and that’s why we wanted to run a programme specifically targeting young people’s mental health. Local branch take-up was the crucial measure of success for the Changing Future’s campaign and we have been delighted with the response”

Chief Happy Karen Lambert said: “Mental health is an issue that touches everyone, and it was a real privilege to be asked to support the YMCA in crafting such an important message that will have real value in our society.”