The Youth Advice Centre, known as YAC, provides crucial support and guidance for young people aged 11 to 25 across Crawley and its neighbouring communities. Located conveniently within the Crawley Foyer building on Horsham Road in West Green (RH11 7AQ), YAC offers a welcoming and inclusive space for individuals seeking assistance with a variety of life's challenges.
Our dedicated team comprises a diverse range of professionals, including compassionate emotional health workers, experienced counsellors, and supportive youth workers. At the heart of our approach is a commitment to being entirely young-person centred and young-person directed. This means every interaction and service is tailored to the individual's unique needs, ensuring they feel heard, understood, and empowered to make positive choices for their future. Our core mission is to foster a safe, friendly, and non-judgemental environment where young people can readily access valuable support and advice.
YAC provides comprehensive assistance across numerous areas, reflecting the broad spectrum of issues young people often face. This includes vital support for mental health and emotional wellbeing, helping individuals navigate feelings of stress, anxiety, low mood, and more complex challenges like self-harm, with access to counselling and emotional health interventions. We also offer guidance on physical and sexual health, including access to free condom schemes and information on relationships, HIV, and STIs.
Furthermore, we assist with practical aspects of life such as employment and education, helping young people with CV writing, job applications, finding training opportunities, and connecting them with learning support mentors. Support extends to money, welfare, and debt management, offering help with form filling, budgeting advice, and accessing specialist benefit support. We also address sensitive topics like substance misuse and exploitation, providing a safe space to discuss these issues and offering pathways to further help. Recognising the importance of identity, YAC also provides tailored support for gender and sexuality, including a dedicated LGBTQU+ Haven with one-to-one information, advice, and regular youth groups for different age ranges.
Currently, we are offering appointments to connect with our support and advice workers. We understand that young people can sometimes "fall through the gaps" in other service provisions, and our Mind The Gap Emotional Health Support offers up to six tailored sessions, delivered face-to-face or virtually, to help identify coping strategies and ongoing support. Additionally, our YMCA Dialogue Counselling services provide both face-to-face and online support for 11-18 year olds, including a specific service for young people from Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds who wish to access counselling with a BAME counsellor.
http://www.ymcadlg.org/what-we-do/support-and-advice/yac-youth-advice-centre-crawley/
