42th Street

42nd Street is a mental health charity for young people. The Horsfall Centre is its creative programme, that enables them to expand the reach of 42nd Street and the impact of the work with young people, partner organisations, communities and supporters and make a positive impact on the mental health of young people and the wider population through engagement with arts, heritage and creativity. The organisation design and co-create the projects with young people to meet the diversity of their needs, issues and strengths. They engage with young people aged 11-25 years as participants and audiences, providing relevant, co-created opportunities for young people to work with high-quality artists to tell their stories, share their experiences and drive attitudinal, policy and practice change. They get referrals from a wide range of sources including directly from young people, parents, carers, GPs, schools and universities, social workers, and A & E. Once referred, the young people are offered a Service Assessment where they decide with the mental health practitioner what support they would like, including the Creative Programme, much like social prescribing. Young people can access The Horsfall at any stage of their journey with 42nd Street whether they are on a waiting list, receiving therapeutic support or have completed therapeutic support. They generally work in groups of 8-12 which fit comfortably in the gallery space. Groups can be made up of young people from 42nd Street or from groups in Greater Manchester who need support due to their lack of opportunity to engage in art based and mental health supported work.