From her role supporting mental health in schools, Ami Mackenzie recognised the under-resourced nature of mental health and wellbeing services for children and young people in Stevenage.

“Referrals were being made, and then it was an 18-month gap and there was no support within that,” she recalls. “This was the waiting period before the Covid pandemic and it became considerably longer after that.”

Not content with the situation, in 2023 she set up The Wellbeing Junction Community Interest Company, supporting young people in the area with their health and wellbeing and providing activities and workshops.

“We’re passionate about promoting and nurturing emotional, physical and mental wellbeing,” Mackenzie continues.

“We provide a range of support to equip the children, teenagers and parents with self-care tools and skills to be able to thrive in today’s fast paced world.

“We’re constantly building strategies and toolkits to be able to help them in situations that they feel that they need that support in. We cover topics such as mental health, confidence, self-esteem, resilience, communication skills, friendships, social skills, emotional regulation, mindfulness and social media – the current struggles.”

To support The Wellbeing Junction with providing the vital services, Mackenzie has joined Sported, a free network of 5,000 groups across the UK using sport and physical activity to impact people in their communities.

In addition to the guidance from expert Volunteer Consultants, resources and access to grant programmes, Mackenzie signed up to the Hertfordshire Club Sustainability Project, funded by Hertfordshire Sport and Physical Activity Partnership and delivered by Sported.

Through the project, the organisation received a £500 grant, but crucially they received one-to-one support from Candice, one of Sported’s Volunteer Consultants to guide them in creating an action plan.

Mackenzie’s topic of choice – marketing and social media to help her spread the word of the Wellbeing Junction’s services.

“Candice provided invaluable support in regard to marketing and social media, she delivered exactly what I needed,” she adds.

“She introduced me to the Meta platform and helped me understand, how to define and reach the target audience within that effectively.

“I didn’t have a clue, I’m useless with social media, but her guidance covered both strategy and the practical side of things, and then it’s given me the confidence in being able to manage that marketing and social media side of things.

“It will definitely have a positive impact on our services, because it’s going to allow us to then target and connect with those relevant people.”

The £500 grant that Mackenzie received from the project is backing up what she’s been supported in, with her used to pay for social media advertising and promotion of The Wellbeing Junction.

This grant is just a drop in the ocean compared to the costs of running an organisation like The Wellbeing Junction, and funding is one of the major barriers that Mackenzie and her team will face as they look to grow and make their services sustainable.

“Obviously funding is a huge, a huge thing,” she says. “The Wellbeing Junction is a community interest company. It’s not for profit, and everybody is still working voluntarily. We’ve had quite a few fundraising events recently, and we’ve got some more coming up.

“Hopefully, within a year, we’ll be able to have our own premises because at the moment, we’re running through community centres.

“We want to provide services five days a week at the drop-in centre and have constant activities going on, especially through holidays.”

You can find out more about The Wellbeing Junction by following their social media channels – @wellbeingjunctioncic.