Ignite Life believes that every young person deserves the right to equal access to the support they need to thrive.
One young person slipping through the net is one too many and we are working hard to ensure this doesn't happen. Ignite believes in partnerships, close community relationships, and constant youth involvement to ensure the best possible outcomes.
We understand that every situation, background, and circumstance is unique, and we aim to tailor our support to each young person or family. Regardless of your race, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or background, we will do all we can to support you.
In the South West, 8 children in a class of 30 live in poverty. In Bristol, 33.3% of children are living in poverty, this is 4.1% worse than the national average.
Poverty can lay the foundations for negative outcomes in life. On top of this, those in poverty often face more barriers to accessing the support they need. For example, not being able to pay for counselling resulting in long wait times, or not being able to pay for WIFI resulting in limited access to online resources and support.
Poverty, including food poverty, can negatively impact mental health, educational attainment, employment progress, family relationships and social life. These negative cycles impact and escalate one another.
This is why we are working hard to best support young people and their families to help them access the support they need to reach their potential. We are trying to help those in our community to help themselves in all areas of their life, whether this is by alleviating the burden of food poverty so families can focus on their physical and mental health or providing mental health support so they can have the tool kit to manage anxieties in education, we will do all we can.
The South West has some of the highest rates of exclusion and suspension (third highest region), ultimately illustrating that schools are not meeting the needs of every young person. Ignite supports young people with the 1:1 care they need to thrive and reach their potential. We are working with our community to ensure young people have the resources they need to succeed. A government report found that:
‘Disadvantaged pupils fall behind their more affluent peers by around 2 months each year over the course of secondary school.’ – Education Policy Institute.
The education gap has grown due to the pandemic and has shown to have to negatively impact disadvantaged young people the most. Ignite works with local school and youth organisations to help young people with educational and wellbeing support when they need it most.
Mental health support is vital as it can lay the foundation for positive outcomes in other parts of life. There are vast inequalities in accessing mental health support and we are working hard to close this gap.
Young people from the poorest 20% of households are 4x more likely to experience mental health challenges. On top of this, disadvantaged young people face additional barriers to accessing the mental health support they need due to economic barriers, transport limitations, stigma, and the lack of awareness of the support available.
Ignite has created an accessible and safe space for young people and families to get the mental health support they need. We work hard to remove any intimidation by being person-centred and making use of our amazing facilities.
Ignite believes that everyone deserves the right to mental health support.
Different disadvantages interlink and exacerbate other challenges and we believe in holistic and uniquely tailored support services to achieve the best long-term positive outcomes. Holistic care allows young people to access all three of our services, if needed, to build nurturing relationships where they can have life changing opportunities and grow confidence in society with their mentors, while building a tool kit to help manage their mental health and future challenges, and alleviating with the stress and burden of food poverty.
Ignite believes that holistic support is essential for a real impact to be achieved, therefore, we work closely with other organisations, local authorities, and charities to signpost.
