YPAS (The Young Persons' Advisory Service) is a mental health charity for young people from 10-25 years. This particular project has been proposed by our Sky group (16-25) as they feel it is something that will massively benefit our organisation.
The project is to inject some life into our computer room. This is the room that is used for one to ones, job searching and the room where new service users have their first point of contact (as the welcome packs are completed with them in that space.) The room is small, bare, run down and drab, making it not a very nice space for service users to have one to ones and take some time out. As it is also where we complete welcome packs with new service users, this is not a particularly welcoming room and we feel it may affect peoples urge to come pack and get the help and support they need. The room is also not suitable for those with sensory issues or disabilities, due to the size and bright harsh lighting. We have quite a few young people who have sensory issues due to to Autism who have said they really can't be in this room as it is sensory overload. It needs to be a place of calmness and serenity as we often have young people come to YPAS in a state of crisis, and that is the first room we have to use. In our Sky group, many of the young people are NEET, so we encourage job searching as much as we can. However, it is not a nice room to be in so young people are deterred from spending time in there. Our young people also require online access to other services, such as Property Pool, which is a very stressful experience. Having a more suitable calming space will help our young people utilise the room and the internet facilities to help them keep on top of things in a calm and comfortable setting. This room would benefit all groups, as they all use it for the same reasons, but our Sky group want to take charge of the project and create something amazing.