LPW YOUTH CLUBS
YOUNG MEN’S GROUP, SOUTHMEAD
Learning Partnership West run a range of youth groups across Bristol. Healthwatch Bristol
attended the Young Men’s Group at Southmead Adventure Playground on 16 March 2015 to
speak to the group members about their health and social care needs and experiences.
LPW YOUTH
CLUBS
YOUNG MEN’S GROUP,
SOUTHMEAD
Learning Partnership West are one of the services
that make up Bristol Youth Links. They offer a range
of services to children and young people living in
Bristol. More information can be found on their
website using the following link:
http://www.lpw.org.uk/young-people/
“BECAUSE
IT’S JUST
BOYS, YOU
DON’T FEEL
PRESSURE
TO ACT
DIFFERENTLY”
You Said…..
What we did:
Healthwatch Bristol attended the Young Men’s Group
at Southmead Adventure Playground. The group has
recently been set up as an addition to an Open Access
Session (which takes place on Thursday evenings) and
a Young Women’s Group (which takes place on a
Thursday afternoon).
Feedback from a
member of the LPW
Young Men’s Group,
Southmead.
At the group Healthwatch attended, there were
approximately 8 young men aged between 13 and 20
years of age. The group is facilitated by 3 male group
leaders.
The members of the group told Healthwatch what
activities they do during the sessions:
 Football
 Cooking (for example pizzas and cupcakes)
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 Pool
 Computer games
 Talking
The group leaders told Healthwatch that they hope to develop a health focus to
the groups. They would like to address issues including:
 Testicular health
 Sexual health advice
 Mental health
Healthwatch Bristol took a range of leaflets and postcards with information
including:




Support for Young Carers
4YP Are you ready for sex? cards
Time to Change postcards and badges
Healthwatch Volunteering leaflets and Tell Us Your Story leaflets
What you said about the Young Men’s Group:
 “It’s good to have somewhere to come and get out of the house”
 “I like that the group is only for people over 12 years and not for little
kids. If there are little kids around, they get all the attention.”
 “Because it’s just boys, you don’t feel pressure to act differently.”
What the group leaders said:
 LPW pick up young people who are on the waiting list for CAMHS, but
workers are not specialists in providing mental health support.
 Often young people on the waiting list for CAMHS do not attend their first
appointment. This may be because it’s intimidating to go to the service.
Healthwatch asked if having CAMHS workers come to the LPW groups
would be helpful; LPW workers said that they would support CAMHS
workers to come to the groups and that they would not necessarily need
to attend every week, but a regular presence would improve the
accessibility of the services.
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 LPW workers also asked for training from CAMHS on how to support
children and young people with mental health needs.
Healthwatch will…..
All the feedback provided by the group will be included in the Healthwatch
Bristol Children and Young People’s Report which will be published in April
2015. Healthwatch will be sharing this report with Healthwatch partners
including Bristol CCG, Bristol City Council, The Care Quality Commission, NHS
England and Healthwatch England. The report will also be presented to the
Healthwatch Bristol Advisory Group to propose further uptake of the issues
identified in this report. The report will be available on the Healthwatch Bristol
website (www.healthwatchbristol.co.uk) and circulated to our mailing lists via
the monthly e-bulletin.
Looking forward….
Plans for future work between Healthwatch Bristol and LPW
Healthwatch welcomes and encourages members of LPW groups to continue to
contribute their feedback to us using the communication methods included at
the end of this report.
Healthwatch also supports young people to become Healthwatch Young
Champions so that they can represent the experiences and needs of their
peers. If any member of Young Men’s Group would like to find out more about
volunteering with Healthwatch, they can contact us using the details below.
Tell Us Your Story…
Healthwatch Bristol want to hear from you about your experiences so that
we can tell services your needs to create the best local services.
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Text us - text bris followed by your message to 07860 021 603
email us at [email protected]
Call us: 0117 2690400
Write to us at:
Healthwatch Bristol,
The Care Forum, The Vassall Centre,
Gill Ave, Fishponds, Bristol, BS16 2QQ
Or visit our website to see more at: www.healthwatchbristol.co.uk
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