About us

Life can be hard but accessing support shouldn’t be.

By providing youth-led wellbeing and counselling support when it’s needed, we empower young people to face life’s challenges.

Founded in 1984 by the late Dr Christine Baksi, the Youth Trust has been supporting young Islanders for nearly 40 years.

Now, more than ever before children and young people need our support, research shows that half of mental health problems are established by the age of 14, and that with the right support, it is possible to prevent these problems enduring for a lifetime.

The events of the past three years have had a significant impact on children and young people and shouldn’t be underestimated. The impact on their education, employment, relationships and wellbeing threatens to affect them for the rest of their lives. Aside from a global pandemic they have seen the outbreak of war in Europe and political instability in the UK. In more recent months, as the cost-of-living crisis has deepened, increasing numbers of children and young people are living in poverty. These young people are 4.5 times more likely to experience severe mental health problems than their more ‘well-off’ peers.

It is essential that we can meet this growing demand and provide young Islanders with the support they need, when it is needed.