Join Young Scot's #YSEquity Panel and have your say on our services, making them fairer and more accessible for everyone. Project Information: - 11-18 years old (inclusive) - From April 2024 to March 2025 - Meeting every 6-8 weeks (a mix of online and in-person sessions) - Anywhere in Scotland - Travel costs covered What’s the YSEquity Panel about? Do you use your Young Scot National Entitlement Card to get on the bus, access the leisure centre or enjoy local discounts? Has it sometimes been tricky for you to get involved in things like school trips, sports clubs or art groups? Then this opportunity could be a great place to have your voice heard! We want young people aged 11-18 on our YSEquity Panel to help us improve our Young Scot services so they meet the needs of young people, are accessible to everyone and help tackle stigma. You’ll get the chance to share your experiences with education including any challenges you’ve faced being ready to learn and attending regularly. We’ll also try to offer you opportunities to meet decision makers in Scotland to share your thoughts on these topics too. The Panel will look at things like:   - Young Scot National Entitlement Card - Cost of the School Day - Access to education - Rewards - Local Discounts - Extra-curricular activities - Information content and more… We would love to hear from a wide range of young people right across Scotland – we’re particularly interested to hear from: - young carers - young people who live in a rural area - care-experienced young people - if you get or have had free school meals

This Commission, developed in partnership with Young Scot, SAMH (then the Scottish Association for Mental Health, now Scottish Action for Mental Health), and Scottish Government, looked to identify the key issues facing young people in mental health services. If you were involved, we’d love to hear from you! If not, but you are interested in mental health policy, please still sign-up below. Information 📅 End of July 2024 (exact date TBC) 🎂11-25 inclusive (or over if you were previously involved only) 🗺️ This opportunity is open to previous members of the Youth Commission on Mental Health Services – wherever you now live. For anyone else who is interested, you must be currently living in Scotland. 🎁 Receive 150 Young Scot Reward Points for taking part! About the Youth Commission on Mental Health Services- The Scottish Government published its Mental Health Strategy 2017-27 in March 2017. Following this, the ‘Youth Commission on Mental Health Services Report’ was published in May 2019 following 16 months of work by the ‘Youth Commission’ (made up of young people aged 15-25 at the time of participation, from different backgrounds and experiences across Scotland) supported by partnership work between SAMH, Young Scot and the Scottish Government. Why should I get involved? - Five years on, we want to review progress on the recommendations in the report, particularly in light of changing circumstances for young people; the impact of Covid-19, cost of living crisis and a changing political context. The issues relating to mental health for young people have not gone away, so we hope revisiting the Commission’s work can help identify ongoing, updated priorities for young people in relation to mental health. We will look to engage with this topic in various ways, starting with an in-person session with Young Scot and SAMH staff. Other engagement in this topic might look like gathering views via short online forms and quick thoughts, as well as more in-depth, in-person sessions. You will be supported to engage in policy and communication work together and identify priorities going forward. In addition, SAMH are planning to do more work focused on children and young people’s mental health. We hope this review can help influence some of this work and any necessary next steps. Sign-ups will close on the 22nd of July