Teenage Helpline
Shortlist – Improving Impact: Charities with 0-3 paid staff
About the Charity
Teenage Helpline is an early-intervention support service providing peer-to-peer mentoring to young people by young people aged 16-25. Participants are paired with a peer-mentor of a similar age who acts as a friendly listener, provides advice and guidance and, where needed, provides support whilst young people are waiting to access formal services.
Teenage Helpline was started by its founder at the age of 14; inspiration was sparked by personal experience. Young people can find talking to adults overwhelming and uncomfortable, and the charity uses peer mentoring to help those who have struggled to find the support that they need.
Charity number: 1194937 | www.TeenageHelpline.org.uk
Education | England – London | 0-3 paid staff
What the Board Achieved
Teenage Helpline, committed to supporting adolescents in navigating life’s challenges, embarked on a transformative journey with digital innovation to improve its impact.
In 2023, Teenage Helpline made significant strides in building a robust framework for future growth. Implementation of new technology facilitated seamless communication with beneficiaries, enabling quicker responses and enhanced data tracking. This data-driven approach empowered the charity to tailor its support, evidenced by more impactful social media engagement and targeted outreach. Structured training through the mentoring academy equipped volunteers with essential skills, fostering deeper connections with youth and elevating the quality of support provided.
Quantitative evidence shows a substantial surge in the number of young people accessing Teenage Helpline’s services. Following the implementation of new digital systems, the charity witnessed a notable increase, supporting an additional 17 youths across October and November alone. Website traffic surged to an average of 2,000 individuals visiting monthly, signalling its expanded reach to relevant audiences.Concurrently, enhanced mentor training translated into improved quality of service, evidenced by the positive feedback from beneficiaries. In addition to this, the charity introduced new training programmes for volunteers; its inaugural cohort of peer mentors has graduated from the academy, enabling them to provide a higher-quality of mentorship, build better relationships with participants, and develop transferable skills that they, as young people, will be able to use as they enter their own careers moving forward.
Board leadership played a pivotal role in Teenage Helpline’s success, through strategic governance and an infusion of new expertise. The introduction of non-executive directors specialising in impact measurement and charity transformation fortified the board’s competency; one of the new trustees also took on responsibility to serve as an executive coach to the CEO to provide enhanced support to the charity’s executive team. A commitment to data-driven decision making and structured engagement with the Youth Advisory Committee has empowered the board to increase accountability, foster innovation, and ensure youth-centric decision-making.
Reflecting on the journey, the board emphasised sustainability and long-term solutions over short-term fixes. Learnings underscored the importance of volunteer engagement, prompting strategic initiatives to streamline processes and define impact clearly. With access to real-time data, trustees are empowered to make agile, informed decisions, aligning growth targets with meaningful milestones.
To sustain impact, the Teenage Helpline board is prioritising robust financial management, diversified income streams, and ongoing impact measurement. The introduction of new volunteer roles and data analytics positions bolsters agility and fosters a culture of continuous improvement. For example, a new volunteer data analyst is building dashboards to provide trustees with better access to real-time data. By leveraging the expertise available across the organisation, and embracing financial stability, the board remains steadfast in its commitment to nurturing adolescent well-being.
Guided by a steadfast commitment to impact, Teenage Helpline is poised to navigate future challenges and amplify its positive influence with young people.
What the Board Achieved
Teenage Helpline’s journey epitomises the transformative power of strategic governance, lived-experience, and data-driven innovation in achieving its mission of youth resilience and empowerment. The Judging Panel applauded the board’s ability to lay the groundwork for good charity governance, data-driven decision making, and agile working from the beginning. The entry clearly articulated the board’s role in supporting innovation through digital technologies, set meaningful benchmarks to monitor impact, identified skills gaps and training needs, and acted quickly to implement change to support the young people volunteering as mentors and accessing its services.
