News

We are delighted to announce that the Hope FX Partnership, which worked alongside young people from North Central London with Mental Health has been shortlisted for one of the very prestigious HSJ Awards in the category of Early Intervention and Prevention for Children, Young People and Families Award.

Hope FX was set up to address the gap experienced by young people that systems of help are carved up and often not working together. The partners came together around a shared vision for creative and innovative solutions to address the health inequity in London. This was about what becomes possible when we risk working in new ways and center the experiences of young people.

Hope FX is a unique Partnership where psychologists g et out of their clinics and bring psychological thinking to spaces where young people could engage as they develop into adulthood.

Our Young Adults Transitions Services, working with 18-25year olds pioneered a unique collaboration with  Fashion-Enter LTD, an  award-winning social enterprise to develop different opportunities within the fashion industry.

Psychologists, youth workers and fashion industry professionals collaborated to explore new ways of supporting both the mental wellbeing alongside professional development aspirations of young people.

As a result, together with young people they went on a six-month journey of learning fashion and business skills, which gave them a new focus and perspectives for the future, producing their own unique t-shirt or product designs, supported by the Fashion-Enter Ltd team.

The project provides a new kind of support to young people within our transition to adulthood care pathways, focusing on skills required for a career in the fashion industry.

Dr Nina Browne, Principal Clinical Community Psychologist, and Young Adults Transitions Lead for Haringey at the Partnership, says:  “This is an award about taking the risk to do things differently. It is not about the Fashion industry or mental health, it is about courageously imagining and designing into spaces where young people want to be and then building what is needed with them. We came together around a shared challenge of wanting to learn how to provide a trauma-informed space that met young people’s needs. This is just one idea that came from partnering across diverse cultures and systems and we hope it inspires others to do the same”

Dr Jonathan Wells, Consultant Clinical Psychologist & Trust-wide Clinical Lead for Young People & Transitions, said: "This was an opportunity that arose for us because as a service it’s our passion to be working within our communities and listening to young people and our partner organisations. Working in this way depends on being agile enough to recognise and act on opportunities as they arise. At times we all had to pinch ourselves to check we weren’t dreaming! Fashion Shoots, brand launches? It was a very different world -  so much experiential learning was gained, not just for the young people that took part but for all of the agencies that worked together to help make it happen." 

The HSJ Awards Ceremony will take place this year on 21 November. Visit their website for more information about this year’s categories and other information.