Jay Worthington is the PP team’s new suicide prevention lead, people participation worker (PPW) and digital participation lead for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Bedfordshire and Luton.
Jay, who is from Bedford, is a former service user and his priority is to provide the same opportunities for other service users and carers that he benefited from while receiving mental health support.
His role will include:
- Developing a county-wide suicide prevention campaign to help young people feel comfortable in reaching out and accessing help and support before they reach crisis
- Creating a digital presence with the aim of highlighting support available and promoting safe and sensible use of social media to avoid it negatively impacting the mental health of young people
- Providing mental health LGBTQ+ training for schools across the county
- Developing the NHS partnership Better Days mental health campaign across Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes to provider creative workshops and spaces that will enable young people to talk about mental health
“Involvement in PP work when I was a service user was incredibly rewarding and helped my mental health recovery journey,” said Jay.
“It is super important to me that I help others have the same opportunities.
He added: “Involvement with PP can offer everything from personal development, the chance to use your own experience to help improve services and to grow your confidence through being given the chance to speak and be listened to.”
Any CAMHS service users, carers or healthcare professionals in Bedfordshire and Luton interested in getting involved with Jay’s PP projects can contact him through @worthingtonjayy on Twitter and Instagram.