Author Archives: Halyna Soltys

1. Successful Conference on the Future of Young People’s Mental Health

   by Halyna Soltys | 28th Jun 2023

   What does the future of mental health services look like for young people?

   On Thursday, 8th June, ProMo-Cymru and Adferiad Recovery delivered a coproduced online conference about the future of mental health support for young people in Wales.

   The conference was part of the ‘Our Minds Our Future‘ (OMOF) Wales project. This project empowers young people to create meaningful changes to mental health services by raising awareness of their experiences and speaking to influencers and decision-makers.

   

   The online event focused on three main areas important to the seven young people who are part of the project:

   Workshop 1

   This workshop explored inpatient mental health care for young people in Wales. Two OMOF young advocates, Martha and Rain, shared their stories of being in inpatient care. This led to discussions about what went well and what could have been improved. The workshop was facilitated by Dr Euan Hails, who was awarded an MBE in 2022 for services to children and young people’s mental health in Wales.

   Workshop 2

   This workshop highlighted how social media could be used to promote good mental health. Andrew Collins and Lucy Palmer, digital experts at ProMo-Cymru, explained the need for services to be on social media platforms. They should be providing support to young people in the places where they spend their time. They looked at how organisations can cut through the noise of harmful content online and disrupt the feed to support young people.

   

   Workshop 3

   This workshop highlighted the NEST framework and how it’s making a big difference in early intervention and prevention care in Wales. The session was delivered by Millie Boswell, the NYTH/NEST Framework Implementation Lead for Welsh Government. She explained how she is implementing the NEST framework to create a whole system approach to improving mental health and well-being services for babies, children and young people. Josh and another young person, two OMOF young advocates, shared their stories about what good early intervention support looked like and how it helped them recover.

   Feedback

   The audience, mainly consisting of professionals across the public and private sectors, was very engaged and left positive feedback, including:

   “This was the best online conference I’ve been to”.

   “I loved hearing directly from the young people. This was so powerful and engaging. I was amazed at their confidence and eloquence on such a challenging and personal subject matter. Really well done on your work engaging with them; they clearly trust you and feel empowered!”

   “As someone who works for CAMHS at Welsh Government, I don’t have contact with young people. What I learned will be on the forefront of my mind when I’m at meetings and doing work going forward.”

   The Our Minds Our Future Wales project approaches its final year of funding in December. The young advocates hope to share the feedback from the conference with influencers and decision-makers. They hope this will help shape the future of mental health services for young people across Wales.

2. TheSprout’s Frisky Not Risky Campaign

   by Halyna Soltys | 3rd Apr 2023

   TheSprout, an online information and blogging platform for young people managed by ProMo-Cymru, co-produced a sexual health campaign with the support of YMCA Cardiff’s Sexual Health Outreach Team (SHOT): Healthy Relationships Service.

   In November 2022, we launched the two-week Frisky Not Risky campaign on TheSprout’s website and social media channels. TheSprout supports and engages young people to share their experiences, have their voices heard and upskill in campaign creation. We also work closely with local organisations and services that support young people.

   

   About the campaign

   Working closely with staff from SHOT, we created a questionnaire to share with young people involved in their service. The questionnaire aimed to gather their thoughts, feelings, and experiences of accessing support for their relationships and sexual health through the SHOT service.

   With support from their Sexual Health Worker, ten young people completed the questionnaire, which formed the basis of the content for the Frisky Not Risky campaign. Content included:

   – 11 bilingual website blogs
   – Social media promotion across Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
   – 16 TikTok videos (also shared to Instagram Reels and YouTube shorts)

   

   Campaign Outcomes

   As a result of the Frisky Not Risky campaign, TheSprout’s Sexual Health information page became our most viewed information page for the quarter. Throughout the campaign, we had over 4,000 web visits.

   Social media was also hugely successful. We reached over 44,000 people across Instagram and Facebook in November alone. Meanwhile, on Twitter, 48 tweets gained 7,029 impressions.

   Additionally, one TikTok video, which explained the difference between internal and external condoms, went viral. At the time of writing, the video has reached: 

   – 545.8K views
   – 23.4K likes
   – 82 comments 
   – 1750 favourites
   – 2651 shares

   This organic engagement shows that the audience responded positively to the content.  

   Some comments left in response to our social media posts included questions asking for clarification on using condoms. One user asked, “What if I use both (condoms)?” This allowed us to respond and further educate and engage with the audience.

   There were also questions that may not be so typical regarding sexual health and relationship education and support. One asked, “By wearing a condom, can the female lose her virginity?? Does the condom break the virginity?” Responding to this allowed us to gently explore societal, traditional, and patriarchal notions of sex informally with the audience, informed by experts from the SHOT team. 

   

   Feedback about working with ProMo

   Amy Stuart-Torrie, a Sexual Health Outreach Worker from YMCA Cardiff, shared her thanks and feedback on the campaign: “I would like to say a huge thank you and well done to all involved. The Frisky Not Risky campaign was completely fantastic. I was blown away by the campaign, the posts, the design, the content and the links to further information.”

   Amy continues, “The TikTok videos were so informative and again so relatable, inclusive, and young-person friendly! Reaching so many people and providing correct, up-to-date information is so important. You really made so much great content.”

   Another staff member at YMCA Cardiff, Amanda Thomas, explained that the content “was accessible and inclusive and has not only raised awareness of the work of the YMCA Cardiff SHOT team but also provided incredibly informative content around sexual health and relationships for young people”. 

   She continues, “The engagement demonstrates how valuable it is to have up-to-date, relevant, accessible and inclusive information available – it empowers young people to be able to make informed choices.”

   “Working with ProMo was great from the off-set,” added Amy.

   “I was so impressed with the campaign. The social media posts were so informative and fun and extremely young-person-friendly!”

   Amanda echoed, “It has been an absolute pleasure doing this campaign with you! So many young people would have benefitted from this fun and informative campaign. Topics discussed can sometimes cause embarrassment, but the campaign made the topics ‘normal’ as it should be! Thank you!”

   This campaign was funded by Cardiff Family First. 

   If you’re interested in working with TheSprout or enabling young people to have a voice, contact Andrew at andrew@promo.cymru.

3. TheSprout Pride Campaign Goes Viral On TikTok

   by Halyna Soltys | 2nd Oct 2022

   TheSprout, an online blogging and information site for 11-25’s in Cardiff, took Pride Cymru as an opportunity to speak to young people from all across Wales about what LGBTQ+ Pride meant to them.

   Lucy and Megan, two young staff members from ProMo-Cymru, the non-profit organisation that manages TheSprout, went to the Pride Cymru 2022 festival to speak to the young attendees.

   We wanted to make noise about LGBTQ+ young people outside of Pride month and let it be known that awareness raising, campaigning and queer joy don’t have to just end in June. Pride is #MoreThanAMonth!

   

   Cardiff Pride: More Than a Month campaign

   In total, we interviewed 21 young people and using their answers, 3 young members of TheSprout’s creative team created the campaign, which aimed to highlight the thoughts, worries, and experiences shared by young people attending Pride Cymru.

   Lucy, 21, shared that “it was really enjoyable to talk to young people and hear their thoughts. They were so articulate, and I learnt a lot from them too”!

   Halyna, the Content Writer and Producer for TheSprout added that “it’s wonderful that young people want to share their experiences and thoughts about LGBTQ+ issues. This kind of platform is how change can really be made”.

   Across the 1-week campaign, we posted 14 blogs and 101 social media posts, including 27 TikTok videos.

   The young people who participated in the interviews really valued and enjoyed the experience of being able to talk openly. One of the young people who were interviewed even commented on a video saying, “that’s me! This was so much fun to do, it was the highlight to the day”.

   

   

   Engagement

   As we were releasing videos, we noticed that one video, in particular, was gaining popularity. As the views increased, so did the likes, follows, and comments. To date, this video has received 3.5 million views, of which the first million were gained in the first 24 hours of publication.

   We knew the topic of the conversation can be ‘controversial’ – sexuality, sex and gender identities are heavily debated, but nothing had prepared us for the amount of engagement we would receive on TikTok.

   There were a lot of heart-warming and positive comments, offering words of solidarity and support to the young people in the videos:

   ‘I never knew asexual was a thing… now I know what I am’

   ‘“Pure love for the soul” I love that, I’m going to use that whenever my older colleagues ask what pan is’

   ‘Awww this is such a great way to educate folks’

   ‘So inspiring and colourful’

   The comment section also provided a space for TikTok users to engage in discussions and ask questions. This included one user asking ‘respectfully, I am a little confused in that when I was younger, we fought against “labels”. Thoughts about this shift? Thanks’. Another person responded that ‘gender gives them comfort and contributes to who they are!! But yeah, you don’t have to be labelled, and that’s totally fine. Hope this helps!’.

   However, there were also a lot of hateful comments. We spent many hours monitoring the comment section, blocking people spewing abuse, and deleting comments to reduce harmful messages as much as possible. Whilst the incredible engagement felt exciting and rewarding, it was also disheartening because it reinforced how hateful people can be online.

   @feedthesprout

   Thanks to everyone for answering!✨🌈 #morethanamonth #cardiffpride #pridecymru #cardiff #lgbtqia #asexual #lesbian #transexual #pansexual #flags #genderfluid

   ♬ original sound – TheSprout

   Outcomes

   The Cardiff Pride: More Than a Month campaign was a wonderful opportunity for young people to share their identity and thoughts about being LGBTQ+ in Wales.

   The campaign offered a platform for LGBTQ+ young people to use their voices and be heard, not only in Wales but globally!

   The hate received in the comments echoes how much further we need to go as a society to ensure that LGBTQ+ young people feel safe, supported, accepted and included.

   Read more about the Cardiff Pride: More Than a Month campaign on TheSprout website, or visit our social media accounts to get involved in the conversation.

   • LinkedIn
   • Instagram
   • X
   • Facebook
   • TikTok

4. [CLOSED] We’re Recruiting: Mind Our Future Gwent Project Team

   by Halyna Soltys | 3rd Aug 2022

   ProMo-Cymru is recruiting staff to deliver the Mind Our Future Gwent project. 

   ProMo-Cymru Vision

   ProMo-Cymru works to ensure young people and communities are informed, engaged, connected and heard.

   How We Work

   We work collaboratively to make links between people and services using creativity and digital technology. Supporting the third and public sectors to imagine, test and create better services.

   ProMo works with communities through communications, advocacy, cultural engagement, digital and media production. Our work is informed by over 20 years of delivering digital youth information projects. We share this knowledge through training and consultancy, forming long term partnerships to benefit people and organisations.

   ProMo is a registered charity and social enterprise; our profits are invested back into our community projects.

   About Mind Our Future

   Working hand-in-hand with lead delivery partner Newport Mind, our project partners and young people over a period of 5 years, we will be designing new approaches for the prevention and early intervention of mental health problems in young people living in Gwent. 

   As a valued member of the ProMo-Cymru team, you will deliver the exciting and innovative Mind Our Future Gwent project. Placing young people at the centre of influencing and delivering meaningful change to child and young person-focused mental health services in Gwent, you will work in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders including young people, Newport Mind, Local Minds in Gwent and Gwent Youth Services throughout the lifetime of the project.

   The Mind Our Future project is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.

   

   Jobs Available

   ProMo-Cymru is recruiting 3 new posts to help deliver the Mind Our Future Gwent project: 

   Mind Our Future Gwent Project Manager

   ProMo-Cymru is looking for an organised and experienced Project Manager to lead on and coordinate the delivery of the National Lottery-funded Mind our Future Gwent project. 

   Full-time (35 hours per week)

   Part-time /job share applications are welcome

   Starting Salary £31,301

   Permanent contract (subject to funding)

   
   Read the Project Manager job description and person specification.Download

   

   Mind Our Future Gwent Project Officer 

   ProMo-Cymru is looking for an enthusiastic and self-motivated Project Officer to support the delivery of the National Lottery-funded Mind our Future project. 

   Full-time (35 hours per week)

   Part-time /job share applications are welcome

   Starting Salary £23,471

   Permanent contract (subject to funding)

   Read the Project Officer job description and person specification.Download

   

   Mind Our Future Gwent Communications Officer

   ProMo-Cymru is looking for a creative Communications Officer to assist in the delivery of the National Lottery-funded Mind our Future Gwent project. 

   Part-time (7 hours per week)

   Starting Salary £20,376 – £21,448 (pro-rata)

   Permanent contract (subject to funding)

   Read the Communications Officer job description and person specification.Download

   

   Information For Applicants

   Please submit a statement detailing how you meet the criteria in the person specification, along with an up-to-date CV to: pat@promo.cymru

   If you have any questions related to the posts, email Arielle: arielle@promo.cymru

   Closing date: Tuesday 23rd August 2022 at 5pm.

   Interview dates: Monday 5th September, Wednesday 7th September, and Thursday 8th September 2022.

   Estimated start date: Monday 10th October 2022. 

   Our project partners, Newport Mind, are also hiring staff to support Mind Our Future Gwent. See the vacancies offered by Newport Mind.

5. Introducing Charlie – Kickstart Scheme

   by Halyna Soltys | 7th Jun 2021

   We would like to introduce you to our new Kickstart employee, Charles Fender.

   At ProMo-Cymru we support the development of skills for young people and help to grow new talent. Meet Charlie, who we’re employing as a Social Media and Admin assistant through the Kickstart scheme. The scheme is run by WCVA to support us and develop her skills in digital media and content creation.

   

   About Charlie

   After completing sixth form, Charlie moved to Cardiff to pursue a bachelor’s degree in media production. Throughout the course, he was given the opportunity to explore all avenues of the industry through film, television, music, radio, and social media. It became apparent early on that his passions included directing, producing, and editing different kinds of online content. Some of his highlights included creating music video productions and producing a live-streamed music event throughout the final year of his bachelors.

   Charlie carried this through to his master’s degree in Cultural and Creative Industries at Cardiff University. He chose this course in hopes of expanding his knowledge and applying theoretical skills to the practical ability he picked up during his bachelors. This is where Charlie developed a fine interest in elevating his social media skills to carry further into his career as a graduate.

   

   How has the Kickstart Scheme supported Charlie?

   Charlie’s role at ProMo-Cymru is supported by Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA). WCVA are supporting voluntary organisations to access the UK Government Kickstart Scheme. It provides fully subsidised jobs for young people across the UK. As part of the Kickstart Scheme, employees will receive the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week. ProMo-Cymru will be increasing this wage to ensure it meets the Real Living Wage.

   Charlie says: “After what felt like a forever long search for the right graduate role during such an uncertain time for many, I came across the position to be a part of the social media team at Promo-Cymru which I can happily say I am now a part of. I look forward to expanding my knowledge within this industry to the best of my ability and feel very privileged to be in a graduate role with such exciting prospects”.

   If you’d like to check out some of the work that takes place at ProMo-Cymru check out our Projects pages.

6. Introducing Hallie – Kickstart Scheme

   by Halyna Soltys | 2nd Jun 2021

   We would like to introduce you to our new Kickstart employee, Halyna (Hallie) Soltys.  

   At ProMo-Cymru we support the development of skills for young people and help to grow new talent. Meet Hallie, who we’re employing as a Content Writer and Producer through the Kickstart scheme. The scheme is run by WCVA to support us and develop her skills in digital media and content creation.  

   

   About Hallie

   Hallie is a first-class Psychology graduate from Cardiff Metropolitan University with experience in digital media, marketing, and communications. During the beginning of the third and final year of Hallie’s bachelor’s degree, she completed a placement at ProMo-Cymru within the Multimedia and Communications team. After finishing the placement, Hallie continued to volunteer with ProMo-Cymru one day per week to create content primarily for TheSprout.  

   Hallie was halfway through her third year of university when we first went into lockdown. During this time she moved back to Nottingham to be closer to her family. Despite this, Hallie continued to be in touch with ProMo-Cymru and offered support remotely towards numerous projects.  

   Due to the pandemic, finding a graduate position was extremely difficult after graduating in June 2020 and competition was high. Hallie continued to volunteer part-time with ProMo-Cymru whilst searching for positions to gain further experience in the industry.  

   A few months later, Hallie was onboarded as an employee of ProMo-Cymru as part of the Kickstart scheme. Hallie’s new role as a Content Writer and Producer means she is responsible for planning, creating, and publishing content across multiple projects at ProMo-Cymru. 

   

   How has the kickstart scheme helped Hallie? 

   Hallie’s role at ProMo-Cymru is supported by Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA). WCVA are supporting voluntary organisations to access the UK Government Kickstart Scheme. It provides fully subsidised jobs for young people across the UK. As part of the Kickstart Scheme, employees will receive the relevant National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week. ProMo-Cymru will be increasing this wage to ensure it meets the Real Living Wage.  

   Hallie says: “The Kickstart Scheme allowed me a wonderful opportunity to work and gain experience in a field that I love in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Working for ProMo-Cymru after my voluntary journey with them is a dream come true. I’m so happy to be part of such a supportive, fun, and inclusive working environment where I learn something new every day and I am encouraged to flourish”.  

   If you’d like to check out some of the work that takes place at ProMo-Cymru check out our Projects pages