Save the NHS/Barnardo's HYPE service

This service engages children, young people and families with lived experience, to improve health services.
It gives us a voice, that we otherwise wouldn't have. Our thoughts and opinions are listened to, discussed, and acted upon to turn our often difficult experiences into positives to change child and adolescent health services for the better.
It puts the service users at the heart of shaping services throughout the whole of the Child Community Health Partnership here in Bristol and South Glos, and allows medical staff and young people to come together and be a team.
Many of us were referred to this service whilst incredibly vulnerable, having missed out on key parts of pre adult life due to illness or disability. Slowly, taking into account our own abilities and needs, this wonderful team of staff encourage us to find our voice.
The sense of pride, empowerment, and achievement this process instills is second to none.

The Bristol CCG is planning to axe this wonderful service by 75%.
The majority of the staff team supporting the service users have been made redundant. This team of people really are one of a kind, and work tirelessly and enthusiastically to ensure our voices are heard, and our suggestions and opinions both positive and negative are acted upon.

It is appalling that it has already been cut by 75%, and we may be at risk of losing it completely.

I have been a young person engaging with this service for 5years. When I first arrived, I couldnt speak, was only well enough to leave the house for an hour a week, and having been housebound and often bedridden for the last 2years of my school education, had lost all sense of confidence and hope for my future.
With the support and understanding of the NHS/ Barnardo's HYPE team, I have gained so many positive experiences, skills, friends, and so much confidence, that I have now given talks to 100 professionals at a time, on what it's like first hand to have mental and physical illnesses whilst at school, and what can help them to help children and young people in future. The feedback that me, and other young people gain from doing these talks, is incredible - to be given the support and platform to speak out and improve things for the future generation is down to the HYPE team. This is only a tiny aspect of the work we are involved in.

Other opportunities we have, are to sit on recruitment panels for health workers, create artwork for hospitals and clinic spaces to make them more user friendly, work with different medical teams to provide information in the best and most accessible way to young people, and also work with the medical professionals in the partnership to bridge the gap between 'service users' and 'professionals' to let everyone be heard.

I cannot fully explain how important this service is, and what a massive impact it has on the way the Bristol NHS works for children and young people.
Without this service, many of us would have remained in desperate situations, and have continued our isolation and silence.

By the huge reduction of this service, the commissioners are taking away our right to have support to find our voice, and make a difference to these services, as well as to ourselves and future young people.
After hearing the government once again last week promise more funding for mental health services - it is even more disheartening to see this wonderful service working to improve those services, being axed.

We do have a voice, and we DO matter. Please join us in challenging their decision.