These pioneers are plugging the gaps in youth support – with help from Big Issue Invest

Life as a young person has never been simple, navigating tremendous change and first-time experiences. But add in today’s social issues, and it’s a hallway full of laser tripwires. Young people are pulling themselves away from school, dealing with mental health issues and figuring out their place in the world.

Doing so requires tools and the right support. Big Issue Invest, the social investment arm of Big Issue, has been getting money to those figuring out the solutions and working on the front line, day-in day-out, to improve young lives. From a bridge back to school, all the way to non-judgemental counselling, these pioneering organisations are making a change with the cash.

SEE Oldham

School absences have shot up since Covid. From a pre-pandemic level of 4.7%, absence rates stood at 7.2% in 2024. For students eligible for free school meals, 36.5% are estimated to be “persistently absent”. Nearly a third of pupils at the UK’s secondary schools are reported to have avoided education due to anxiety.

“It has been a massive issue since Covid, hasn’t it?” says Leo Casey, headteacher of SEE Oldham in Greater Manchester, an independent school with just 24 pupils, all of whom have social, emotional, or mental health needs. “If you speak to headteachers now, attendance is going to be in their top two or three issues.”

Students come to Casey’s school having struggled to attend mainstream school. Casey’s team provides an individual approach, which might include home visits to taper students back to full attendance. “It’s the relationships that keep our children coming back into school,” he says.

As well as secondary-aged pupils, SEE is now working with younger children, thanks to investment from Big Issue Invest. This has allowed them to open an alternative provision in the nearby village of Delph, providing a bridge back to school for children who aren’t attending. Prevention is key. “If they’re missing year three and four, and not attending school at all, then we’re never going to be able to get them to engage with their education,” says Casey.

Missing school isn’t just reflected in grades. By reintegrating students who would otherwise have been totally absent, Casey says there is a chance for new experiences. Take Of Mice and Men, the John Steinbeck classic which has remained a touchstone for millions of children passing through GCSE English. At SEE’s school, year 11s now moving on to college have studied that book. “What we’ve been able to give them is the school memories that me and you would have,” says Casey, speaking about one year 11 who will be able to join in on conversations with his peers at sixth form. He didn’t like the book, but isn’t that the point?

Brook wellbeing hub

Some of the young people coming to Brook wellbeing hub in Cornwall will be 11, not even having started secondary school. Others will be 25, already parents. But some issues are common.

“For us, isolation and loneliness has been quite a big theme. It’s quite a rural and disconnected county in lots of places,” says Kate Swire, coordinator of the wellbeing hub. “So we’re seeing a lot of young people that are lacking that community, lacking that ability to spend quality time with their peers. We’re seeing that have an impact on self-esteem and increasing anxiety, depression and unfortunately quite a lot of self-harm.”

Since it opened under a year ago, 300 young people have already been referred. The hub, funded with money from Big Issue Invest, aims to help where sexual and mental health intersect. Counselling is on offer, as well as three different wellbeing schemes.

“We see a lot of young people [for whom] we are the only people they’ve told that they are having these thoughts and struggling with their identity,” says Swire. “Often they haven’t told anybody at home, and this causes quite a lot of distress, young people not feeling like they’re able to be themselves at home, and they’re worried about being either kicked out or not accepted in their own homes.”

Alongside the more expected issues – the impact of gender and sexuality on relationships, and navigating unhealthy relationships – Swire has been surprised at the number of neurodiverse young people coming for help. “We are seeing a lot of young people who are struggling to go to school for a myriad of reasons, whether that’s bullying, whether that’s that they’re undiagnosed with autism and so they’re not getting their needs met,” she says.

The Regulation Station

“Our system is Victorian and our children are millennial. It still works for some children but there is a growing group of children who are voting with their feet,” says Jackie Brooks. “They are saying this doesn’t fit me, it doesn’t feel comfortable, I don’t feel safe, and so I am not coming.”

Two years ago, Brooks began running The Regulation Station, an alternative education provider in Dunstable focused on helping kids regulate their emotions and cope with school, relationships, and the world. The work uses dialectical behaviour therapy, a branch of CBT which focuses on emotional contradictions – you love your mum but are also angry at her – and the distress they can bring.

For the 29 children Brooks and her team help, aged six to 18, emotional issues and the behaviour they bring can leave children set adrift. “There was no way back to school. If we sent them to a provision, it was pretty much that we’d never see them again. And I didn’t like that,” she says.

Funding from Big Issue Invest has helped the Regulation Station to pay off loans but also to re-fit a new space and expand their operations to younger children. “The difference that Big Issue Invest money has made has been phenomenal,” says Brooks.

“It’s really broadened our reach, and given us a bit more visibility for that younger age group,” she says. “It’s bringing a little bit of peace of mind to parents who are very worried about their children and what’s going to happen to them next.”

When many children first come to the Regulation Station, they can be afraid to set foot outside their home, or be completely unwilling to engage with school. “When we meet them, their heads are down, they’re looking at the ground like there is nothing ahead of them. Then it is almost like they get to a point where they suddenly look up,” says Brooks. But then the change starts to emerge. “They are starting to reimagine themselves as, actually, maybe I can learn. Maybe I’m not stupid. Maybe I just need time and space and the right approach. They are all in their own ways making steps and achieving.”

Great Oaks College

Nickye Thomas was getting ready to tell his staff and students that Great Oaks College would have to close. Just two months after achieving an outstanding Ofsted report, the London-based college – which provides education opportunities for pupils aged 19-25 with severe learning difficulties – was given an eviction notice. Within two years, it would need to leave its purpose-built £38 million facility.

It would have been disastrous for the more than 100 young people supported by Great Oaks, whose courses prepare them for active lives and independence.

“There was fear, anxiety, and the deep worry that without financial backing, all the good we had built could be lost,” said Thomas. “We felt as though we were running out of options – until we were introduced to Big Issue Invest.”

A £3m loan from Big Issue Invest has secured the college’s future, allowing it to buy and refurbish new premises in Sunbury-on-Thames. The new site is set to open in 2026, and will allow staff to support all those currently on their books.

“Securing this funding has not only safeguarded the future of Great Oaks but has laid the foundation for growth,” Thomas added. “I love what Great Oaks stands for – and even more, what it has the potential to become, now we have this fantastic new backing from Big Issue Invest.”

Village Underground/EartH

In a revamped Art Deco theatre in east London, more than just music is happening. Along with running gigs bringing crowds to Stoke Newington – think Johnny Marr, Kae Tempest and Richard Hawley – the team behind EartH have been training up the next generation of musicians.

Thanks to funding from Big Issue Invest, EartH has run programmes including Run the Track, offering a leg up for those who don’t have the easy access to creative industries that connections and class bring.

Over 16 weeks, the scheme saw young artists learn to play instruments, record an album, and then perform on stage. With youth services closing in their hundreds as today’s teenagers grew up, it offered an outlet – and a chance to realise dreams.

“The music industry feels like a bit of a cult in all honesty, and if you’re not really in the club it’s a bit hard,” said one participant, Davina Ansah.

Ultra Education

“Being exposed to entrepreneurship as a teenager really boosted my confidence,” says Julian Hall. That’s why Hall began Ultra Education, an organisation taking young people from underrepresented communities and showing them the difference entrepreneurship can make.

Hall has a simple definition of an entrepreneur: “Someone who does what they love and makes money from it.” Why not work at doing something you love? Hall’s work builds self-esteem, gives young people role models, and gives them the tools to follow their passions.

A £300,000 investment from Big Issue Invest has allowed Ultra Education to expand its reach. “I believe that children and young people from all backgrounds should have access to effective entrepreneurship education and we at Ultra Education are dedicated to that mission,” says Hall.

Kalda

A quarter of young LGBTQ+ people aged 18 to 24 say they have avoided seeking help for their mental health. Existing support flags, and a different approach is needed. With courses designed by LGBTQ+ neuroscientists and therapists, the mental health app Kalda has a vision of that different way.

“We are seeing more representation in the world now, but we have a lack of clinicians and professionals with the relevant lived experiences to support everyone,” said founder Daniel Botcherby. “Kalda gives us the opportunity to infuse the voices of the community into our support tools and empower the community with a queer toolkit to support and manage our mental health with.”

Big Issue Invest has helped Kalda with a £300,000 investment as it aims to reach more young people and increase the number of courses on offer.

Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. Big Issue exists to give homeless and marginalised people the opportunity to earn an income. To support our work buy a copy of the magazine or get the app from the App Store or Google Play.