YMCA Milton Keynes
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Support and Advice

Support & Advice

A safe place to talk and get help through guided groups, mentoring, counselling, and mental health services.

YMCA MK offers more than just a physical home. Our holistic approach ensures that our residents can access a wide range of support to meet their personal needs. Staff guide residents through our pathway of support, ensuring that by the time they move on, our young people have the tools and resources that they need to thrive.

If you are in urgent need of help, contact Milton Keynes Council by calling 01908 691691 for emergency information and advice.

Support Sessions

Every resident has a skilled key worker who provides mental health and wellbeing support in both scheduled and impromptu one-to-one sessions. Our key workers build a relationship first, which is key to developing understanding and trust, before working on plans and goals.

Core to the support we provide is a commitment to an asset-based approach. In a nutshell it means that we focus on the skills and attributes of a person, not the challenges that have brought them to us. Our support is ‘person-centred’ which means taking account of each individual’s needs and aspirations.

It is important that we support young people in areas where they are not feeling their best so key workers use our emotional needs framework to guide conversations and set goals.

When residents leave YMCA MK we hope they feel happy, healthy and optimistic about the future.

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Mental Wealth

Over 60% of young people living at YMCA Milton Keynes identify as having a mental health issue and sometimes residents need more than their key worker is able to provide.

We received funding from The National Lottery in 2023 to revolutionise the mental health support available to residents and launched a transformational new service Mental Wealth, which provides timely support to young people with a range of complex issues.

Mental Wealth gives residents access to an expert multi-disciplinary team including a psychologist and a specialist mental health nurse. This means residents can be diagnosed and treated for common conditions such as ADHD and autism on-site.

 

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Activities

As part of the holistic support at YMCA MK our activities team are available to provide opportunities to improve emotional health in fun, interesting and inspiring ways for all residents.

From football to film nights, boxing to baking we run a weekly programme of physical and therapeutic-based activity sessions.

Activities help residents find their community and settle into life at YMCA MK in a safe and supportive environment.

The team also run an Independent Living Skills programme which helps build skills, improve well-being and self-esteem to support young people into sustainable and meaningful employment and gain long-term independence.

Activities Timetable
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Whether residents need help with anxiety or low-mood or more specialist support with past trauma, Mental Wealth will ensure they get the support they need, when they need it.

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Supporting Wellbeing

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young people engaged with Mental Wealth

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one-to one support session were provided

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hours of meaningful activities were provided

Our keyworkers drop anything to make sure we’re ok. They put us first, even above themselves. They could have all kinds of things going on at home, but they come in to help us.