Family Minds Partnership

Parental Minds help parents, caregivers and school staff supporting young people to tackle a range of mental health struggles, including self-harm, anxiety, and school refusal.

Sarah-Lou Glover

Parental Minds is an organisation led by lived experience and dedicated to improving the mental wellbeing of parent caregivers and their young people by providing comprehensive support. We support families face to face in East Devon and Exeter and virtually across the rest of Devon. We focus primarily on providing support for the parent caregiver who can be isolated and overlooked as they provide, often intense, support for other family members.

Our approach is uniquely centred on the concept of co-production and lived experiences. We firmly believe in empowering parent caregivers and equipping them with the necessary tools to support their young person’s mental health. By placing parent caregivers at the forefront of the support process, we address a critical gap in existing mental health services. We are driven by the understanding that this approach has a long-term positive impact on the mental health of the children and young people in these families.

Together with Family Minds, we are committed to empowering caregivers and communities with the knowledge and resources needed to effectively support young people’s mental health journeys. We believe that by working collaboratively, we can inspire positive change and foster resilient, thriving families.

Beyond my dedication to mental health support through Parental Minds, I enjoy socialising with my family & friends, dancing, singing and drinking the occasional glass of red wine with my hubby!

HeadsUP offers prevention and early intervention mental health sessions to children and young people. We want to empower and equip young people to look after their mental health now and throughout their lives. 

Paula Baker

I have worked in the mental health and education field for 20 years and I started HeadsUP just over 5 years ago. One of my passions is to work in partnership with other organisations to make sure the child and family can access all the support they need in a timely manner, that is why we love being part of the Family Minds Partnership.

Esteem Team is a CIC (Community Interest Company) who work with children and young people who have additional needs and/or struggle with their mental health, as well as providing support to carers and families.

Cara Stratford

I am the Manager of the Community and Family Support offer at Esteem Team CIC. I am passionate in my work role and also have personal, lived experience of supporting loved ones with SEND and mental health challenges, which have shaped and influenced my life. I was pleased to be invited as a member of Family Minds to have an opportunity to work more collaboratively with other organisations, to better support families in the community.

My favourite (current) glimmers are spotting rainbows, fluffy socks at bedtime, my weekly walks with friends (usually on Woodbury Common), fungi hunting with my daughter, watching Race Across the World with my son, taking photos of cool things I spot and eating chocolate (I mean…who doesn’t like chocolate)!

BOUNCE! provide specialist 1 to 1 counselling and psychotherapy to children, young people and parents.

Hayley Graham

I’m a child and adult psychotherapist and founder and director of BOUNCE! Brighter Futures. I wanted BOUNCE! to be part of Family Minds as I think that working together will help us and our partner organisations help more children, young people and families find the right support at the right time.

I have always loved writing. I have written two books of stories to support the mental health of children. The first was published in September 2022 and I hope the next will be published in 2024

YMCA Exeter creates supportive, inclusive and energising communities where all young people can truly belong, contribute and thrive. We do this by providing community led development projects, mental health support for children and young people and provision of supported accommodation for young adults.

Gareth Sorsby

I’m Gareth, I’ve been working with young people at the YMCA for 14 years to help them unlock the skills and abilities hidden inside of them, allowing them to become all that they can be.

Personally, I have 3 young boys of my own and love getting in the sea with them for a boisterous splash around. I recognise the day to day ups and downs of childhood and the effects that has on their mental health. I’m passionate about ensuring children, young people and families are able to access services when they need it not after 2 years on a waiting list.

The Devon Mental Health Alliance (DMHA) is a partnership between six local organisations in the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector providing support for people living with mental health problems across Devon. Launched in 2022, the Alliance leads on the implementation of the community portion of the Community Mental Health Framework (CMHF).

Matt Merriam

Hi, I am a community mental health development lead for Devon Mental Health Alliance and CoLab in Exeter. I work in Eastern Devon (Mid Devon, Exeter, East Devon) to support developing the infrastructure to properly transform the way mental health is provided. That is why I have been so keen to be involved in Family Minds. Working together, collaboratively, as an alliance, is an incredibly impactful route to seeing things change in our area for those that need it most.

Action East Devon runs mental health and wellbeing support services to young people and their families in East Devon, with the aim to enable them to be as healthy as they can be.

Molly Mayfield

A parent of a young family and Charity Manager for Action East Devon.

I can often be seen towing kids to school on a strange tandem bicycle.

Normal Magic is designed by bringing evidence from science, research and practice together to form a unique framework that can be used to inspire and guide our individual approaches to mentally healthy living. In our experience, both clinical and personal, we find Normal Magic easy to use, easy to remember and easily embedded in everyday life.

Sarah Lewis & Steve West

We are a group of professionals with backgrounds in Mental Health Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Teaching, Clinical Psychology and Consultant Psychiatry, who have worked in under 18s health care and education for decades! Our time in health and education services has brought us an abundance of experiences working alongside children, young people, their families and professionals. We passionately believe in the power of collaboration and joint working, so are proud to part of the growth of Family Minds

Sarah Lewis and Steve West are both Mental Health Nurses specialising in Child and Young Person Mental Health Care. Individually and together they have spent a collective 5 decades building and delivering mental health services.

Tor Support offers free counselling to children and young people aged 5 to 25 living and/or attending school in and around Okehampton and its surrounding parishes.

Jane Lake & Nicola Frost

Jane Lake, a Trustee, has been attending Family Minds meetings.

I am Nicola Frost, Service Manager for TSS, and I have been managing the organisation since Nov 2021. I am responsible for the day to day running of the charity. One of my priorities for TSS is to build links to other organisations, statutory services, charities, CICs etc to enhance Tor’s wider involvement and impact, and to build further opportunities for our clients.

Young Devon is a youth work organisation committed to changing the odds in favour of young people. We provide accommodation services, wellbeing support, skills courses and a range of other options for young people.

Jamie Keyse

I am the Area Wellbeing Manager for Young Devon. I’m passionate about creating relationships with other organisations to improve outcomes for young people across our county. Family Minds is a great opportunity to work together to find creative options and to learn.

I’m a keen runner and I’ve just finished my first ultra marathon.

I’m Laura Blatherwick, founder and director of the Youth Arts & Health Trust.  I’m a registered arts therapist and also have a small caseload of young people and families I work with within the team.  I have previously held roles including Clinical Lead for Arts Therapies and Specialist Counselling within a South-West based NHS Psychotherapy Service.  Before I qualified as an arts therapist, I worked in the charity, education and business sectors, designing and delivering arts projects and training programmes to bring about personal, social and community change.

Howard Hoskins & Jennifer Levey