What we do:

Growing Minds aims to improve children and young people’s emotional health and wellbeing in City & Hackney during the important transition years from primary to secondary school and secondary school to adulthood. The project, which supports children and young people aged 9 to 25 of African, Caribbean and mixed heritage (ACH), is funded by the Department of Health, Hackney Council and City & Hackney CCG. The project offers a wide range of support including:

  • 1:1 Counselling and Creative Art/Play Therapy offered to CYP 11-25, up to 16 sessions across Off Centre and community settings, schools and youth clubs
  • 1:1 Emotional and Practical support for CYP

Partnership working – Growing Minds is a partnership of the following organisations:

  • Off Centre at Family Action
  • Hackney CVS
  • African Community School
  • Father2Father

Contact information:

  • https://www.family-action.org.uk/what-we-do/children-families/growing-minds/
  • 10 – 6pm  Monday to Thursday
  • info@growingminds.org.uk

How to refer to our service:

Children, young people, young adults and parents/carers can self-refer or be referred by Children’s and Adult Social Care, CAMHS, a GP, education providers, or the Voluntary and Community Sector. To access NVR Parenting groups please contact wyankey@hotmail.com and kome@acschool.org.uk To access Tree of Life in schools please contact deji@hcvs.org.uk To access counselling and practical/emotional support complete referral form in this link or access the website listed above.

Need urgent help?

Counselling and Art Therapy – delivered by Off Centre

This service offers counselling and art therapy to young people from African, Caribbean and mixed heritage (ACH) delivered by professionals from ACH backgrounds.

The service is for young people aged 11 to 25 years old. 

Children, young people, young adults and parents/carers can self-refer or be referred by Children’s and Adult Social Care, CAMHS, a GP, education providers, or the Voluntary and Community Sector. Access the referral form here.

For further information please contact: info@growingminds.org.uk

Non-violent resistance (aka Tools for the Teenage Years) – delivered by African Community School and Father 2 Father

This programme is specifically for parents from African Caribbean Heritage Community (ACH) whose children (aged 9-18) may be experiencing emotional wellbeing or behavioural challenges at home or at school. The 12 week programme focuses on topics such as de-escalation, parental presence, reconciliation gestures, understanding parent trauma and child trauma. The programme runs within City and Hackney and is offered by two different Community Organisations:

Groups run 4 times a year, you can get in contact with each of the organisations directly to find out when the next group is taking place or find out more information about the sessions. 

Tree of Life in schools – delivered by Peer Leaders from Hackney CVS

The Tree of Life project aims to give space to young people from ACH backgrounds to believe in their own abilities, acknowledge their dreams and talk about difficult experiences in a safe environment.

Tree of Life is a narrative-based intervention developed in South Africa, which uses different parts of a tree as metaphors to represent the different aspects of participants’ lives (find out more here). 

Tree of Life sessions are delivered in Secondary Schools by Peer Leaders (young people from ACH backgrounds) together with Education Mental Health Practitioners, to ensure they are culturally relevant to those participating and use a preventative approach to supporting young people before things get worse. 

Tree of Life is available to all secondary schools in City and Hackney, to access it schools need to express interest by getting in contact with their Education Mental Health Practitioner or CAMHS worker in school.

CAMHS Services

First Steps
Specialist CAMHS
CAMHS Disability
Off-Centre
Family Action
Young Hackney
Children and Families Clinical Service
Growing Minds Service
Wellbeing & Mental Health in Schools