Tiger tackles LGBT+ mental health issues at prestigious Royal College conference
Tuesday, 21 May 2019
One of our Youth Parliament members has pledged to continue ‘breaking the stigma that still sadly exists’ for young Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT+) people.
One of our Youth Parliament members has pledged to continue ‘breaking the stigma that still sadly exists’ for young Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT+) people after addressing mental health at the annual Conference of Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH).
Tiger Nicole-Salisbury spoke to professionals about the needs of young people as well as her work with Central Bedfordshire Youth Parliament on a joint project with RCPCH &Us and Dr Mike Farquhar from Evalina Children’s Healthcare – part of London’s Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust – to explore LGBT+ health experiences.
Inspired by the NHS Rainbow Badge Initiative – which aims to make a positive difference by promoting a message of inclusion – Tiger and the Youth Voice group has contributed views, ideas and recommendations for creating LGBT+ aware and accessible health services, including a specially-designed Rainbow Health Youth Supporters’ pack, which was launched at the conference.
Speaking about mental health, as part of a Question Time-style panel, the Etonbury Academy pupil from Shefford, talked about the need to take time to communicate with young people face-to-face, to see them as an individual and not just an appointment.
Tiger said: "It has been an amazing opportunity; I have spoken to so many different people and have never had an experience like this one. The biggest audience I have spoken to as a Youth parliament rep is 60 and on Monday, I stood in front of 1,000 paediatricians, this has really helped my confidence grow.
“It has been an exhausting 24 hours but one I will never forget, and I look forward to continuing working on LGBT+ support needs and breaking the stigma that still sadly exists.”
Tiger also presented Dr Farquhar with the RCPCH Voice Award for his work on the NHS Rainbow Badge initiative and the time and commitment he has given to Youth Parliament on their campaign #AllDifferentAllEqual. This aims is to break the stigma around LGBT+ issues, support the creation of support groups in the area and highlight the discrimination still experienced by members of the community.
Sue Clark, our Executive Member for Families, Education and Children said: “We applaud the exceptional work of young people and the Central Bedfordshire Youth Parliament and their continued efforts in finding creative ways to bring about social change.
“Working with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health and Dr Farquhar is tremendous achievement that delivers on two of the Youth Parliament’s priorities for this year. We look forward to their continued endeavours in helping to improve mental health and wellbeing services, as well as raising awareness of the need for support groups and activities for LGBTQ+ young people.”