A New Chapter Begins

If you’re reading this, you probably already know that we’re Tiny Changes, however who we are and what we do is changing, a lot… 

This is has been a big week for us, and we wanted to share a little update on where we’ve been and where we’re going next, in the hopes that our community will join us on our new path and continue to show the same incredible support that has been vital to our growth since we launched back in 2019.

Tiny Changes was set up in memory of artist and Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison. Through his music and art Scott made tiny changes that had a big impact. His honesty and openness about his own mental health inspired people from all walks of life. After taking some time to research what was needed to impact the mental health crisis among young people in Scotland, Scott’s family decided to launch Tiny Changes with a strong focus on early intervention. 

The first phase saw Tiny Changes operate as a grantmaker, this was achieved initially through our Bright Thoughts Funds and Covid-19 Relief Fund. Both of these programmes prepared the charity for the launch of the Make Tiny Changes Fund Pilot programme in the Scottish Borders, where the Hutchison brothers grew up. The Make Tiny Changes Fund 2022 and 2023  followed, national funds with a focus on the impact of inequalities and cost of living crisis on young people’s mental health across Scotland.

Through the Make Tiny Changes Fund, young people and groups supporting young people were invited to apply for grants of up to £10,000 to run mental health projects in their communities, with young people right at the heart of our decision-making. These projects combine activities such as music, sport, technology, nature and art, with mental health conversations, therapy, research and much much more. 

Through these funds, Tiny Changes funded over 70 innovative mental health projects, with 50% of them being led by young people, and we directly supported more than 4,500 children and young people.

We are a young charity with big ambitions – and we are still learning. We inspire lasting change through a deep understanding of the impact of our work. We gather insights from our successes and our mistakes, always asking young people what we could and should do better. We use these insights to challenge ourselves, and others, to improve the wellbeing of all young people.

We recently finalised our 2019-2023 social impact report and have started using our learning and findings to inform the development of our co-production programme and mental health pilot projects.

We  asked  over 70 project leaders what they believe to be the biggest challenges for children and young people’s mental health, they shared that; 

• There is a lack of support for children and young people, that education systems are failing young people, and that uncertainty caused by global events is having a detrimental impact on children and young people.
• Respondents also shared that lockdown and resulting health and social anxieties had caused challenges for children and young people alongside existing inequalities such as racism and poverty. Isolation and social media were also believed to play a role in the mental health of children and young people.
• Whilst one of the funds specifically supported Covid-19 responses and was therefore mentioned many times, it is useful to note that the ripple effects of lockdowns on children and young people’s mental health continues to be felt across communities.

We asked over 70 project leaders what would help them to continue to make a difference to children and young people? 

Across the evaluation responses, project leaders shared some of the key areas that would help them to continue to make a difference. These include; 

• Many raised structural inequalities as barriers to young people’s mental health. This included poverty, racism and education structures.
• Many spoke of the need for long term, sustainable funding in order to enhance their impact. 
• A clear theme across many groups was the importance of trusting local organisations to know their communities. A Trust based model of support will be useful to reflect on going forward.  

All of these projects were funded by money raised and donated by you, our amazing community. This community, that is formed by people all over the world, is a diverse, spirited and incredibly inspiring group of people that continues to support us in so many different ways: from volunteering and fundraising, to running marathons and running bake sales – and so much more!

With the help of 24 young advisors, we’ve developed a new strategy that sees us take on a co-production model. We’re going beyond just giving money out; we’re putting young people, their skills and lived experience, at the core of service development. We strongly believe in young people as the architects of the most appropriate and important support for them and their peers. We want to push ourselves to be more innovative, smarter, as well as more human rights focused and evidence-driven. 

We took a huge step in our journey to youth-led innovation this week, welcoming  five brand new project leaders to the Tiny Changes team, all of whom will lead our own Tiny Changes projects that we’ll pilot over the next year. Each project will focus on a specific theme, and we’ll be sharing lots more about each project very soon. 

We’re so excited for the next phase, and would love for you to follow the journey and continue your invaluable support.  You can do this by making a one-off donation or a recurring donation, taking on a fundraising challenge for us, and buying products from the Tiny Changes shop!

Words as meaningful and inspiring to us today as they were when we launched.