The new intake of Dudley Youth Council has announced that young people’s mental health is one of their priorities for 2021.

The young people who took up their posts in late January have had to adapt their normal ways of working during the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean they have lost focus. They have identified mental health as an issue they want to promote and support over the year.

Members have attended a virtual mental health training session to help them recognise issues, use self-help techniques and signpost young people to support. Issues covered included anxiety, coping strategies and building resilience. Nital Patel, chair, Dudley Youth Council, said:

"This year has not been easy for anyone during the pandemic but Dudley Youth Council has been working extremely hard throughout to try and improve things for young people. Our national campaign for this year is Mental Health and we know, now more than ever this is a big issue especially for young people, whether this is because of workload, online lessons or staying at home.

"Taking part in the Mental Health Training is an amazing opportunity for us all, as it will help us with ideas for our campaign by being able to learn from it and allowing us to support others who are suffering with things like anxiety, stress, depression etc.

"We look forward to taking our campaigns further, so please check out our contact details to find out more.

Councillor Ruth Buttery, cabinet member for children and young people added:

"We know that the pandemic means we have to do things differently, and the Youth Council has embraced this and is making the most of social media and digital communications to keep in touch with its members.

"I’m really glad that they’ve chosen young people’s mental health as one of their priorities this year. We know it’s been difficult for everyone this last twelve months, and our young people have seen a massive amount of disruption in their everyday lives which is why this training they’ve attended is so important.

"There are lots of resources for people of all ages who are struggling with their mental health. You can find a whole host of support, self-help and professional advice on out Let’s Get pages.

Dudley Youth Council is a group of local young people aged between 11 and 19 (and up to 25 for those with a disability) who represent young people’s views and work towards improving things for young people in the borough. You can get in touch with the youth council via email.