Matched donations will help support youth mental health

Mental health charity Lancashire Mind has launched its week-long Kind2Mind campaign in partnership with Big Give which will run during Mental Health Awareness Week.

Donations over £1 made via the Big Give Kind2Mind page during this week will be match funded pound for pound up to £7,500 allowing Lancashire Mind to receive £15,000 towards funding their children and young person services. 

The Big Give runs campaigns for charities and special causes at key moments across the year, helping them double their donations with match funding. 

Lancashire Mind CEO, David Dunwell, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for us, and we must make sure we take full advantage of it. 

“Right now, children’s mental health is in crisis, and we will be using this money to help ensure we can continue to run our vital Children and Young People (CYP) services.” 

The Kind2Mind campaign fundraising has been kick started by Financial Options Group- a corporate partner of Lancashire Mind. The company have donated £2,500 as part of their commitment to supporting young people's mental health.  

Sarah Kendell, Chartered Financial Adviser and director of the Financial Options Group Charitable Foundation said: “The goal of our Foundation has always been to create real impact in the local community and help change lives for the better – and we know that donating to Lancashire Mind's Kind2Mind Campaign will support those aims. Not only because every pound donated to Lancashire Mind this week will be doubled, but because we also know all funds will go directly to bridging the gap between young people's mental health needs and the current shortfall in services.  

“We're committed to supporting youth mental health in Lancashire and proud to be kickstarting Lancashire Mind's fantastic campaign. We hope many businesses and individuals will join us and donate to this amazing cause." 

*Official data shows the number of children in England needing treatment for serious mental health issues has risen by 39 per cent in a year. 

The pandemic, social inequality, austerity and online harm have all contributed to a crisis which has seen NHS referrals for under-18s increase to more than 1.1m in 2021-22. 

David added: “More and more children are experiencing poor mental health and are waiting months to access NHS services. The earlier a child receives support, the more likely they are to recover and remain well. The work we do is about prevention and helping children before they get to that crisis point. 

“This is an opportunity to help create a Lancashire where children get the support they need, when they need it.” 

Lancashire Mind’s virtual wellbeing coaching has been hugely successful, helping hundreds of children and young people across Lancashire – but it is only funded up to summer 2023. 

David continued: “It is crucial that we are able to continue to deliver this service and we are making every effort to attract further funding from a range of sources. 

“But the chance offered to us by the Big Give Kind2Mind campaign to supplement this will make a huge difference and will help provide wellbeing coaching to even more young people across Lancashire.” 

It costs £400 to provide wellbeing coaching to a young person. This includes one-to-one sessions, bespoke resources and strategies which ultimately provides them with a personalised tool kit to manage and maintain their wellbeing in the future. 

Donations should be made via the Big Give Kind2Mind page and not directly to Lancashire Mind to ensure the match funding. Visit https://bit.ly/lmkind2mind to make your donation.