Supporting children and young people’s mental health

The Scottish Government has announced additional funding for a new project to support LGBTQI+ children and young people’s mental health.

LGBT Youth Scotland will receive £50,000 to establish a new Mental Health LGBT Youth Commission.

LGBTQI+ young people continue to experience significant health inequalities and face real barriers to accessing healthcare.

The Commission will explore barriers and challenges LGBTQI+ young people face when accessing mental health support and services. This work, will be taken forward with young people, and their lived experience will help inform future work, designing targeted and tangible solutions, formulated by the LGBT Scotland Youth Scotland Mental Health Ambassadors.

This project has been developed based on the feedback and recommendations of children, young people and families and will provide important additional mental health support to the LGBTQI+ young people in Scotland.

Mental Wellbeing Minister Maree Todd said:

“I am happy to announce this additional support for LGBT Youth Scotland on top of the substantial investment we are already making in improving the mental health and wellbeing support provided to children, young people and their families.

“We have listened to children, young people and families, and are taking direct action in the areas where they have told us more support is needed.

“Making sure all children and young people can get the mental health and wellbeing support they need, at the right time, is important to this government as our continued record investment in this area goes to show.”

LGBT Youth Scotland, Chief Executive, Dr Mhairi Crawford said:

“There is a tremendous amount of work still needed to ensure that the voices of LGBTQ+ young people in Scotland are heard. However, this funding represents a step in the right direction.

“We recognise the current pressures on the NHS, but even during times of crisis, we cannot deprioritise the needs of marginalised groups.

“LGBT Youth Scotland’s Mental Health Youth Commission will see young people share their lived experience to drive change and inform solutions.

“We thank the Scottish Government for supporting this project which will amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ young people, have a significant impact on services and help LGBTQ+ young people across Scotland thrive.”

Background

Scottish Government have provided LGBT Youth Scotland with £50,000 from the 2022/23 mental health budget to establish a new Mental Health LGBT Youth Commission.

This work is informed by previous research by LGBT Youth Scotland which shows LGBTQI+ young people are more likely to face mental health and wellbeing concerns than the population average - Health Report 2023 digital (lgbtyouth.org.uk)