Youth Arts & Health Trust

Established in 2016, the Youth Arts and Health Trust work alongside young people and their families, to develop confidence and resilience through safe, inclusive and creative arts therapies.
​
We believe every child and young person should have the space to be heard and to better understand and navigate their emotions. Arts therapy by its very nature is person-centred and rich with creative opportunities to work either verbally or non-verbally. We are able to be flexible and adaptable in what we provide to suit the needs of each individual.

Arts therapy is a type of psychotherapy that utilises creativity, as well as talking, to achieve psychological healing and positive change. All our arts therapists are experienced, fully qualified and registered with the Health and Care Professions Council.

Our services are regularly purchased by organisations, schools and families. We also care deeply about ‘plugging the gap’ for families and young people and offer grant funded interventions.

How does your organisation contribute to preventing suicide and supporting those affected by it?

We provide arts therapy interventions with children and young people experiencing mental ill health, including those experiencing suicidal thoughts, or with a history of suicidal plans or attempts.

What are your current priorities?

To increase our grant funding for families on lower incomes to access our services.

To prevent youth suicide and increase our ability to do this within our offered programme of work.

What challenges are you currently facing?

Like many charities at the moment, finding funding can be a challenge and this is a central focus of ours at the moment as we hope to increase our capacity and extend our reach into other parts of Devon.