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Preventing Suicide and Deliberate Self Harm
Laying the Foundations: Identifying Practice Examples
Project Report
8. Stonewall Youth Project, Edinburgh and Lothian
Target Group
Stonewall Youth Project operates primarily in the Edinburgh and Lothians area. It also employs a project worker in the Borders who links in with the Edinburgh-based services.
The project provides support to young (aged 13 - 25) men and women who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgendered. The project is the only place in Scotland to offer such support. Hard to reach young people are a priority, such as disabled people, people from ethnic minority backgrounds, or people who live out-with Edinburgh.
Issues
The project helps people with many different issues such as isolation, depression, self-harm, lack of self-esteem, difficulties with self-image, coming out, sexuality, relationships, family problems, difficulties with housing, poverty, and issues around transgender. The project works a lot with people around self-acceptance - this is a big thing for people - people finding out that they are normal. This is helped a lot through peer support - people meeting other young people in the same situation.
Transgendered people often face a whole range of issues such as poor family connections, a lot of family strife, physical and sexual abuse, issues around sexuality as well as issues around gender.
Services/approach
The project can help in a number of ways:
one-to-one support work at the project
support by e-mail, which is very important for young people who are gay, but may not be able to be open about it to people around them.
one-to-one support by telephone - not everyone who needs support is able to come into the office - they may live too far away.
help to find pen-pals, as well as help in getting in touch with people who are the same age who live locally.
support groups and drop-in - for example there is a support group for transgendered people.
The support offered is diverse: practical and emotional support, help with developing a sense of well-being, help with accessing other services, and help in obtaining information (for example, people can access the internet from the project). Many of the people they see do not need 'hardcore' support, but some people have severe emotional issues and mental health issues - some of the causes are sexual abuse, difficult families and difficulties around gender identity. The project supports people in talking about self-harm - a lot of the young people self-harm, and attempt suicide - particularly young transgendered people.
Many homeless young people are gay, so the project tries to work closely with local housing agencies. Many of the people who use the project have been asked to leave by their family, or it is no longer OK for them to live at home. The project can help someone find accommodation, and can refer them on to supported accommodation if this is needed. The project also provides training to housing workers - awareness about what it is like to be gay or transgendered and how this can affect your housing situation.
It is very difficult to help people get additional emotional support. For example, if the person is overdosing once a month, it can be very difficult to get them the mental health support that they need - they are often not thought of as ill enough for the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, but may still have poor mental health.
Transgendered people can receive a lot of mutual support at the group at Stonewall. If group support is not the right setting for a person, then they can still receive one-to-one support. They can often experience self-denial and self-hatred, confusion and depression, and can very vulnerable as a result. The consequences of breaking out of the normal gender mould can be severe and people can often receive hassle at work and hostility from others in general. A lack of role models, and lack of validation can also lead people to be very vulnerable.
The project can help people with coping strategies, will help validate the person's experiences, and help them understand their situation. The project will work with the person's family if they want this, or with their workplace, and can also help them with their transition to a different identity. The project can also work with other workers that the person sees, such as social workers and staff at the Young Persons Unit at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital.
The project can offer practical support, such as tips about clothes, support around hormone treatment, and help with linking into medical services. The project can support the person through the long process of 'passing' - gradually moving from being identified as one gender to the other. The project will occasionally support someone who might be related to a transgendered person, or the person's partner.
The project can then also support a transgendered person through the long process of medical treatment. A person may struggle with their identity for years, and will then have to go through a 'real life' test for several months or years in order for a doctor to be sure that the person is transgendered. The wait for hormones can then also be long, followed by a wait of several more years for surgery. Some individuals are refused treatment due to poor health or unstable mental health, and such people are severely at risk of suicide.
Key features
For further information, contact:
Simon de Voil, Project Worker
Stonewall Youth Project
John Cotton Centre
10 Sunnyside
Edinburgh, EH7 5RA
Tel 0131 622 2266
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