Prospex youth worker Carole Ward

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GIRLS can jump the NHS queue for mental health support by accessing therapy at community centres, an Islington youth worker has said.

Dozens of teenagers made scrunchies and decorated cupcakes last Tuesday evening at a youth club in Highbury, one of five centres across the borough that are running the She Is Supported (SIS) project – safe spaces and support exclusively for girls.

Prospex, Elthorne, Mildmay, Mary’s and Highbury Roundhouse community centres are holding girls-only sessions, and six times a year they come together to form a “super group”.

“It’s like a sisterhood,” said Prospex youth worker Carole Ward. “They can just be free to forget about all the other things going on in the world.”

Youth workers from the girls’ groups at five Islington community centres

Some sessions are just good gossip and a hot meal, but Prospex has also hosted guest speakers on topics like breast cancer awareness and the history of witchcraft and feminism, as well as an annual residential trip for 40 girls.

They can get one-to-one support from a youth worker, and those who need it most – as many as 60 girls – can see a therapist for up to 16 weeks. Waiting times on the NHS list can stretch into years.

Ms Ward, who has worked at Prospex for more than a decade, said: “It shouldn’t be like it is. I don’t think there should be a waiting list on supporting someone’s mental health.

“The body confidence issues are ridiculous now. You see that jump from Year 6 to Year 7. In Year 6 they’re playing in the playground, making loom bands and crocheting. Three weeks into Year 7 they’re getting up on a Saturday morning and doing their hair and makeup for a TikTok.”

She added: “Safety is a big issue for young girls as well. When women go out in the streets at night, we’ve got to think, ‘I could be robbed, but the likelihood is I’m not just going to be robbed, I might be sexually assaulted’.”

The SIS Project has funding to run until the end of the year.