Our approach to tackling youth mental health
What’s Going on?
In Brighton and Hove, children and young females have lower levels of social, emotional, and mental wellbeing than the South East average.
Young females experience higher diagnosis rates and higher hospital admissions for self harm than national averages.
In our research with 97 young females aged 8–19, 57% said their mental health affects them, including anxiety, self-harm, eating disorders, and body image issues.
The gender health gap makes this worse: a quarter of young females have self-harmed, more than twice the rate of young men.1 in 7 young women (16–24) have PTSD, compared to 4% of young men.
Mental health issues begin before the age of 24. Only 25% of young females access treatment with many saying the help available doesn't meet their needs.
What we do
At Project Female, we combine youth work and dance to amplify young female voices through social action projects.
We deliver our youth work in underserved neighborhoods in Sussex with high levels of socio-economic deprivation, health deprivation and high levels of physical activity need.
Our approach
Project Female’s unique approach combines youthwork, mental health support and social action in an inclusive dance setting.
01
Dance for Social Change
Delivering a youth-led co-creative process that highlights issues impacting the lives of young people and facilitating their call for social change
02
Youth Leadership and Training
Dance Ambassadors is a leadership course for young females who face barriers to employment, education and training
03
Youth Organising Projects for young females
Project Inspire helps young females build confidence and realise their potential by leading action on social issues that matter to them. By empowering and upskilling them to create real change in their communities through non dance youth-led events.
04
Mental Health Support
Providing safe and inclusive spaces to reach young females not served by external mental health services. Project Female provides support from trained youth workers which any young female can access on their own terms as they transition through their teenage years.
how we measure our impact
We track participant numbers, attendance, and demographic information to understand who we are reaching.
Each session includes wellbeing check-ins. These simple activities help young females talk about how they are feeling and learn healthy ways to manage their mental health.
Our Outcomes Framework sets out the changes we want to see, such as improved confidence and wellbeing. It also includes clear indicators that help us measure progress.
Before starting a new project, we use short questionnaires to understand the needs of Young Females. We also use these surveys to track the difference our programmes make.
At the end of each year, we hold a group reflection session where participants come together to share their experiences and feedback on the programme.
“Project female was one of the few place i felt safe and i felt so incredibly suppoted by the adults around me.
I doubt without project female i would’ve been able to move forward the way i have.”
— Dancer
In the last 3 years we have supported 1075 young females
To improve their mental health and wellbeing
350 mental health check ins delivered
75 mental health first aid delivered
25 safeguarding interactions
61 % learned how to recognise how their mental health shows up in their bodies
52 % learned how to positively manage their mental health
92 % report greater mental health and wellbeing
Grow the resources to reach their potential
94% feel able to express their thoughts as part of the creative process
73% have grown in confidence during their time at Project Female
68% have grown in agency during their time at Project Female
88% report greater confidence and agency in settings outside of Project Female
Develop the tools to affect change in society
350 took part in social action projects
25 developed key skills for community organising
Where Ideas Take Shape
Where creativity meets clarity, and vision meets action.
We believe in doing things differently—with intention, with passion, and with people at the center of it all. Every detail here reflects that mindset.