Batley charity helping young girls with mental health issues receives cash boost

Female empowerment project SKY Positive Minds was awarded £5,000 out of a £1.16m pot from London-based UK Youth.

The money will go towards supporting monthly mentoring sessions known as SYNC Together for Change, which seek to increase confidence and self-esteem in a safe space for young girls.

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The girls from SYNC have spoken at various charity events, held topical workshops on mental health, body shaming and social media, exam stress, and self love.

More than 160 organisations and community groups across England received grants ranging from £360 to £20,000 to fund youth-focused work.

SYNC Together for Change was set up following consultation with 50 young girls in Kirklees.

They identified that they lacked a community hub for girls and that there was no safe space for them to discuss issues that were affecting them.

In every session the young girls take a lead on the topic to be discussed and then they deliver this to up to 20 girls who attend the group.

Around 200 girls in Batley are set to benefit from the grant money.

A spokeswoman for SKY Positive Minds said the charity was “delighted” to receive a grant, which will allow it to extend its monthly sessions by taking girls out on team-building activities.

It will also offer its specialist one-to-one solution-based coaching in order to help the girls address their challenges and realise their potential.

She added: “The funding will enable the SYNC Hub to extend the number of hours we spend during our monthly sessions.

“Currently they run each session for two hours and is usually spent at the support hub.

“However, the girls want to be able to do activities outside of the hub for a longer period of time.

“They have suggested activities such as trekking, boat trips, day trips, etc – SKY have found that girls are more likely to open up about their issues when more time is allocated for bonding activities.”

The charity is also in the process of launching its Young Social Entrepreneur (YSE) programme for SYNC – Together for Change where it will be mentoring up to 12 girls between the ages of 14 to 22 to set up and run their own charity store.

The project is funded by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. All profits will go to charitable causes.

Via SYNC girls from different ethnic backgrounds have created a multicultural arts mural representing “a memorable illustration of what can be achieved through integration, creativity, cohesion and positivity.”

It will be officially unveiled on Friday, April 17 at Dewsbury Moor Children’s Centre.

Launched by former Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan, at the ‘SoapBox’ youth centre, London, the UK Youth Fund forms part of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s Youth Accelerator Fund.

Nineteen projects across Yorkshire and the Humber have been awarded funding.