Seven Years of Believing in Young People

Hundreds of voices. Thousands of lives. One extraordinary legacy.

Imagine being 18 years old and sitting around a table with NHS leaders, commissioners and decision-makers, helping to shape the future of children and young people’s mental health.

Imagine standing in front of hundreds of pupils and helping them talk more openly about bullying, kindness and emotional wellbeing. Or discovering that your own lived experience can become something valuable: something that helps improve services, challenge attitudes and support other young people.

For 39 young people over the past seven years, those experiences have been part of the Healthy Minds Apprenticeship Programme, managed by All Star since April 2020.

The programme grew from the vision of the late Sasha Bhat and a simple principle: young people should not just receive services; they should have a meaningful role in shaping them.

Beginning with a small group of apprentices during the uncertainty of the Covid-19 pandemic, the programme has developed into an important part of youth-led mental health work across Bradford District and Craven. Along the way, apprentices have become researchers, educators, advocates, programme designers and young leaders in their communities.

Delivered by All Star in partnership with Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership, the apprenticeship has always been about more than gaining a qualification or finding a route into employment. It gives young people direct experience of working alongside professionals and an opportunity to influence the services and systems that affect their generation.

As one Year Four Healthy Minds Apprentice explained:

“The apprenticeship has set me up for the future. I’ve gained experience in working with professionals, service users, and their parents and carers. I know the apprenticeship will open many doors for me in my career journey.”

Over the past seven years, apprentices have worked alongside NHS professionals, schools, researchers, voluntary organisations and community partners. They have contributed to strategy, supported research, co-produced resources, developed campaigns and delivered workshops, always helping to keep the experiences of children and young people part of the conversation.

That contribution has also been recognised by the professionals working alongside them.

A Research Fellow from Born in Bradford said:

“Working with the apprentices is one of my favourite parts of my job. They aren’t afraid to challenge ideas and conduct discussions around sensitive topics with great maturity and understanding.”

Therese Patten, Chief Executive of Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, also recognised the importance of the apprentices’ contribution:

“I would like to thank the Healthy Minds apprentices for all their hard work, which everyone at Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership has really valued so much. Each of them has brought their own personal experiences and knowledge of their communities to help steer the work that we deliver to support children and young people’s mental health across Bradford District and Craven.”

Kindness, Compassion and Understanding

One of the programme’s most visible legacies is Kindness, Compassion and Understanding (KCU).

KCU was created by the first cohort of Healthy Minds apprentices during the pandemic and launched on World Kindness Day in 2020. Since then, it has grown into an award-winning programme that has reached more than 32,000 children and young people across over 100 schools, colleges and specialist settings.

Its focus has never been limited to bullying. KCU helps schools and young people explore kindness, difference, discrimination, protected characteristics, compassion and empathy, while encouraging young people to think about how their own behaviour can influence the people around them.

As part of work feeding into the regional West Yorkshire MHSDS, independent evaluation found that 88% of pupils rated KCU sessions as Good or Very Good, while 84% said they were Very or Extremely Useful for their school.

Understanding of protected characteristics increased from 15% before the sessions to 74% afterwards. Understanding of compassion rose from 34% to 77%.

The evaluation also highlighted why this work remains important. More than four in ten young people reported experiencing bullying at least sometimes, while fewer than one in three felt confident that they would seek help.

Those figures matter, but they only tell part of the story.

Behind them are young people who have found the confidence to speak up, pupils who have realised they are not alone, schools that have started different conversations and apprentices who have discovered careers they may never previously have considered.

A legacy that continues

Since 2020, 39 apprentices have completed the programme.

Of those, 27 are now working across health, education, youth work and the voluntary and community sector. Eight have progressed into further or higher education, while others have moved into different careers and opportunities.

The programme’s impact therefore continues well beyond each apprenticeship.

Former apprentices are now working in classrooms, community organisations, NHS services, universities and neighbourhoods across Bradford District and Craven, taking with them the experience, confidence and values developed through the programme.

That may ultimately be its strongest legacy.

The Healthy Minds Apprenticeship has given young people opportunities to challenge stigma, influence services, lead conversations and show what can happen when their contribution is taken seriously.

Seven years on, the principle at the heart of the programme remains the same: believe in young people, invest in their potential and give them a genuine role in shaping the decisions that affect them.

The programme may be called an apprenticeship, but its impact has always reached much further.

It has helped create young leaders.

For more information about the Healthy Minds Apprenticeship Programme or to discuss opportunities to collaborate, please email Michael@allstarents.co.uk.