YOUNGSTERS have been encouraged to share their experiences of mental healthcare with people their own age in a bid to improve the way the service is run.

Young Listeners from Healthwatch Wiltshire spoke to 174 children and young people to find out how services can be improved and will present their findings to Wiltshire’s Health and Wellbeing Board on Thursday (May 18).

Issues raised included having to wait up to eight weeks for an appointment after being referred to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services, feeling like they weren't being listened to and not knowing where to go for advice about physical and mental health issues in schools.

Kerry McKenzie, who will be one of the people presenting to the board, has suffered with a range of mental health disorders but said the Young Listeners scheme had helped her to turn her life around.

"Before ever carrying out a listening exercise I was sceptical at the impact it would have," she said. "But then I got into it and realised young people who are talking to someone of a similar age open up more than they do to an adult.

"An 11-year old girl wrote me a note saying, ‘thank you for helping me with my bullying, you are all so kind and helpful’ and an 18-year-old I was talking to switched from barely saying anything to spilling out his strong views on mental healthcare to me.

"Getting involved in volunteering has helped me immeasurably. Not just with my own issues, but I have been able to help other people too. I initially wanted to become a Young Listener because it was an opportunity to give young people in Wiltshire an approachable platform to voice their healthcare concerns, but I have gained so much more from it.

"I think the concept of a young person listening to young people is genius. It has this profound way of enabling individuals to feel comfortable and open up about their experiences, which they may not be able to do with health professionals.

"I am so grateful for this project. I have been given the opportunity to be a part of something so unique and special, alongside a team of brilliant people I knew would support me. It gave me something to look forward to when my life felt bleak."

Healthwatch Wiltshire worked in partnership with local groups Youth Action Wiltshire and Community First to train the group of youngsters, aged 16-18, to become Young Listeners.