Supporting young people living with mental illness

I'm May Gabriel - brown, queer, disabled award-winning mental health campaigner and activist and I'm reaching out to you (the gofundme sphere) to help me set up my brand new charity - It's OK. We have trustees on board, our charity application is ready to go, an amazing crew of young and passionate volunteers - but we need a little extra hand. I'm currently trying to raise some funding so I am able to work on this full-time to help make this much-needed charity a reality. 

It's OK will be a national young people's charity supporting young people aged 15-25 living with mental illness. There is currently a gap in the ‘third-sector’ for a mental health charity dealing specifically with young people with moderate to severe mental illness and this needs to change. 

It's OK will be a charity that has young people's voices, diversity, representation and inclusion at its heart. We are building the charity on a foundation of intersectionality - something that is so desperately missing from the charity sector as a whole. 

The UK is experiencing a crisis in the mental health of young people.

● 20% experience a diagnosable mental illness before the age of 25.
● Just 25% of these say they are able to access the support they need.
● Hospital admission due to self-harm is increasingly common, around 50,000 cases in a single year.
● Tragically, suicide is increasing - the past 5 years saw 15% more cases than the previous five.

It’s OK will work in four areas to improve the lives of young people living with mental illness:

●  Guide and influence policy to provide more support and promote better health. ●  Campaign to reduce stigma around acute mental illness, specifically in young people.
● Provide education through online resources, workshops, lectures, research and networks.
● Establish a mentorship network for young people living with mental illness, ‘buddying’ them up with those who have been through similar experiences.

In the past six weeks since starting up It's OK I have received an overwhelming response from people who are desperate for an organisation like this to be set up. There are so many brilliant and amazing mental health charities, but we need dedicated support for young people living with mental illness.

Please help us on this journey. 



Any funds raised from the gofundme will go towards salary costs and other costs incurred when setting up a charity. It's OK is currently set up as IT'S OK MENTAL HEALTH CIC and any and all funds will go into the CIC bank account.