Creating support through mentoring
We are Mad Millennials Mentors (MMM). Created and run by millennials – a generalised generational designation referring to people born c1982-1998 - we offer peer support groups.
Nationally, there are 12 peer support groups helping young people all over the country and MMM has been running in Berkshire since 2019 - covering Slough, Bracknell Forest, Windsor, and Maidenhead, though we accept attendees from across all of Berkshire.
Studies have shown that UK millennials are amongst the most isolated demographic and are lonelier than ever before, a situation only exacerbated since the Covid-19 pandemic (MHF, 2020). Millennials face increasingly pervasive internal and external worries and pressures. In an ever more volatile world, issues of self-acceptance and self-esteem, relationship and financial pressures (to name a few) take a toll on the mental health of a generation.
MMM provides an accessible service by and for, millennials experiencing mental health challenges, emotional difficulties and societal pressures - creating safe, local spaces for expression and support. MMM sessions are open to anyone sharing similar generational worries and we provide attendees with a comfortable environment in which to proactively manage their mental health and wellbeing and communicate their difficulties with people that understand their troubles and experiences.
The MMM mentors scheme focuses primarily on mental wellbeing, but due to our generational focus we can help younger people who may be feeling anxious or having difficulty managing change, those who have families of their own and individuals who may be feeling socially isolated, by offering them no-pressure, community support based on compassion, inclusion, and non-judgement. We are hugely committed to engaging with those from different backgrounds who may feel excluded or discriminated upon.
We know it is impossible to cover every issue of concern with any degree of depth, therefore our MMM mentors are provided with clear signposting resources for issues of concern out of their depth. Our mentors are mental health first aid trained (MHFA), safeguard trained and following an MMM comprehensive training programme. They are also provided with a resource pack that includes principles similar to the five ways of wellbeing to help facilitate their discussions and encourage attendees to explore each month’s theme.
Our unique approach to mental wellbeing support means our themes cut across many Frimley Clinical Commissioning Group priority areas, namely loneliness and social isolation, anxiety and managing change/transition as well as providing families/parents/carer support.
We applied to the Innovation Fund to help us to ‘level up’ the Berkshire group against others across the country. The innovation fund has given us the structure and financial freedom to experiment with our peer support group setup in Berkshire. The leadership team of the organisation has gained significant amounts of experience in all areas of programme operation, volunteer coordination and seen the value of bringing on new members to help run the programme - recognising the diverse areas of knowledge and the skill sets that each of our team brings, seeking out others with complementary attributes where needed.
The Innovation Fund process has also been immensely helpful in creating new connections. In November 2021 we held a joint event with Wild SL6 bringing people together for a nature walk and peer group session. We are currently planning a community feedback session in Bracknell Forest to hear first hand from young people about the types of support they would be willing to engage with and feel they would benefit from the most.
The new connections forged have helped us embed ourselves in amongst the community level forms of support available to young people in Berkshire, and become more acquainted with similar minded organisations.
We recognise that communities last much longer than projects do and we hope that by facilitating a strong community bond between the attendees of MMM sessions and events in Berkshire, as well as integration with local formal and informal care systems, that a community can develop and that the care and support will continue to be shared amongst young people living in the Berkshire area.
