Author : Molly Mayfield

Make a Real Difference to Young People’s Mental Health in East Devon

Action East Devon is seeking a dynamic Outreach, Development & Marketing Manager to expand our community presence and launch exciting new mental health support services for young people aged 11-25.

The Role

• Position: Outreach, Development & Marketing Manager
• Contract: 12-month fixed term
• Hours: Part-time, 18 hours per week
• Salary: £32k pro rata (£15,567 per annum)
• Location: East Devon (covering Sidmouth and Honiton areas)

What You’ll Do

You’ll play a pivotal role in launching two new Headlight peer support groups in Sidmouth and Honiton, while developing partnerships across East Devon. Your work will include community outreach, grant writing, marketing strategy implementation, and building relationships with schools, GPs, and youth services.

Our Headlight programme provides vital peer support groups and 1-2-1 mental health support, helping young people build confidence, develop coping skills, and create supportive community networks.

What We’re Looking For

• Experience in community outreach or development roles
• Grant writing and funding application skills
• Strong communication and relationship-building abilities
• Understanding of young people’s mental health challenges
• Full driving licence and willingness to travel

Why Join Us?

Join a values-based local charity making a tangible difference to young people’s lives. You’ll have the opportunity to shape new services from the ground up while working with an experienced, passionate team.

Application Deadline: Monday 14th July 2025

Interview Date: Tuesday 22nd July 2025

Start Date: Monday 25th August 2025 (negotiable)

Apply now: [email protected] Please include “Outreach, Development & Marketing Manager Application” in the subject line.

Action East Devon is an equal opportunities employer committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.

A thought-provoking new photography project is set to bring to life the mental health challenges young people experience. The images will be exhibited in venues across Exeter and East Devon from May to November this year.   

The project aims to challenge the familiar but limiting ‘head in hands’ image often used to depict mental health struggles.

Inspired by a call in a charity newsletter to rethink how mental health is visually represented, local photographer, Theo Moye – drawing from his own experience with anxiety – set out to create images that reflect the real, complex, and varied nature of mental health challenges.

What began as a solo artistic exploration quickly grew into a collaborative project.

Partnering with Action East Devon’s Headlight groups in Ottery St Mary, Axminster and Seaton, Theo began working with young people aged 11–25 to co-create images that reflect their personal experiences of mental health. Action East Devon enables children and young people in East Devon with mental health issues to work through them and move on to live happy, healthy lives.

Theo said: “While the ‘head in hands’ image depicting mental health challenges is widely recognised, it often fails to convey the internal realities of conditions like anxiety or depression. Mental health issues are deeply personal and often invisible. The standard imagery often doesn’t show what’s really going on inside.”

Action East Devon’s Headlight groups, which provide safe, non-judgmental spaces and optional 1-to-1 mentoring, aim to build resilience and peer support networks—helping young people avoid crisis through connection and understanding. Together with the photographer, participants have produced powerful, authentic visuals that move beyond stereotypes and highlight the individual nature of mental wellbeing.

Chris Botham, the Action East Devon Chair said: “Theo has brought both his photography skills and his lived experience to enable the young people we work with to express what is going on for them. It has been a powerful project, and we are looking forward to displaying their images to a wider audience.”

The resulting images will be exhibited in venues across the region, inviting the public to see mental health through a new lens. The exhibitions will be made accessible to people with visual impairments with recorded audio descriptions available by scanning a QR code next to each photo.

The images will be exhibited in venues as follows:

• Exeter Phoenix Arts Centre (May 22 – June 26)
• Axminster Library (June 30 – July 25)
• Exeter Central Library (August 04 – 29)
• Ottery St Mary Library (September 01 – 26)
• Honiton Library (September 29 – October 24)
• Sidmouth Library (October 27 – November 14)

In June we welcomed Andrew from @fitagainpt to run a boxing session with our young people and volunteers.

Andrew’s Journey has involved Headlight in the past as he used to volunteer for us many years ago and was so inspired by our young people, it spurred him on his journey to use fitness to support people on their physical and mental health journeys.

Andrew shared his story with the group and it was humbling to hear how much of an inspiration our groups had been to him.

Andrew reached out to us as he wanted to give something back and recognise the part Headlight has played in his success.

Much fun was had by all and we want to say a massive thank you to Andrew for giving his time last week. We hope to collaborate again soon.

Follow @fitagainpt to find out more about Andrew and his gym.

This exhibition showcases a project by photographer Theo Moye and young people attending sessions run by Action East Devon.

As a photographer who has struggled with their own mental health Theo Moye is keen to challenge some of the stereotypical images used to illustrate issues like anxiety and depression.

A few years ago a charity newsletter invited suggestions for an alternative to the stereotypical ‘Head in Hands’ image to illustrate mental health issues like anxiety or depression.

While this image is recognisable it doesn’t actually say anything about what is going on inside someone’s head or real, lived experiences. Mental health issues are different for everyone and are very intangible by their nature.

As a photographer who has struggled with their mental health Theo wanted to take up this challenge. After much thought he created an image to illustrate his experience of anxiety and thought it would be interesting to work with other people to create images that describe their mental health. He hopes the images will encourage discussion and challenge stigma. 

These images will be exhibited in venues including Exeter Phoenix Arts Centre, and the libraries in Ottery St Mary, Axminster, Seaton, Sidmouth and Exeter.

The event listing at the Exeter Phoenix is now live so please go down and visit to explore

NB Some images have been recreated with models.

What happens when you bring together staff, trustees, volunteers, and ex-service users in one room with a shared vision? Magic happens.

Our recent “Planning for the Future” day was exactly that kind of transformative experience. With the incredible news of securing both Children in Need funding and National Lottery Reaching Communities funding, we knew it was time to pause, reflect, and dream big about what comes next.

A Day of Discovery and Direction

Every voice mattered, every perspective added value, and every idea was welcomed. Our ex-service users brought invaluable insights from their lived experiences, while trustees offered strategic guidance, volunteers shared their grassroots observations, and staff contributed their professional expertise.

Together, we didn’t just talk about the future – we actively shaped it.

Looking Forward

As we embark on this exciting new chapter, we carry with us the energy, insights, and unity from our planning day. We’re not just better funded – we’re better prepared, better aligned, and more determined than ever to make a real difference.

While we’re thrilled about our recent funding successes, we still need to match fund and raise half our money this year and every year going forward. This ongoing fundraising ensures we can continue delivering the vital services our community depends on.

If you’d like to support our mission and help us turn these exciting plans into reality, you can donate through our website. Every contribution, no matter the size, brings us closer to achieving the ambitious goals we set during our planning day.

Thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to making this day so special and productive. The future we’re building together is bright indeed.

[Photo caption: Our incredible team of staff, trustees, volunteers, and ex-service users coming together to plan for an exciting future ahead.]

Action East Devon (AED) is a small-medium sized charity and registered company delivering wellbeing and mental health services to young people across East Devon. We have small but highly skilled team of 5 and a committed and hard working Board of Trustees. Our aim is to ensure that new trustees gain personal satisfaction from their participation – can you be the person to help Action East Devon grow and succeed?

What we are looking for

We are seeking to recruit one or two Trustees to the Board, who will contribute to the next exciting phase of our 3 year strategy now that we have secured financial support from the Lottery and Children in Need.

Find out more

If you would like to apply for the role, please send your CV with a covering email to [email protected] and we will contact you to arrange a meeting.

If you would like an informal discussion about this post or have any queries, please contact Chris Botham (interim Chair) on [email protected] or call Molly on 01404 549045.

We are really excited to be working with Theo Moye who is a professional photographer with a passion for young peoples mental health.

Theo is working with all of our groups to create an expressive image that represents each individuals journey. Theo, together with our wellbeing workers and the young people are aiming to create something that shows that persons story.

We will then host a reveal of these images (with consent) with our young people and their families in our group sessions, then they will be displayed in libraries and exhibitions across Exeter and East Devon, ahead of mental health awareness week.

We are really excited to have Theo working with us on this and can’t wait to showcase the final pieces.

Watch this space……

Here is Theo’s own image to give you an idea of what to expect.

We are recruiting 2 volunteers who are interested in working with young people and supporting the staff at two of our locations; in Seaton and Axminster.

The new volunteers will assist at Headlight’s fortnightly peer support sessions, supporting young people aged 11-18 with mental and emotional health issues. Volunteers may also be involved in the delivery of annual activity days (Discovery Days).

What volunteers are expected to do:

• help with running activities and will be encouraged to run their own once they are confident;
• helping with cooking and/or preparing food;
• offering a listening ear to a young person or who needs to talk;
• clearing, tidying and making cups of tea;
• offering support as may be necessary to service users;
• offering support to other volunteers and to staff; and
• mostly we ask that you get involved with activities and have fun!

A voluntary position will be subject to an enhanced DBS check and all volunteers are expected to complete training and induction as part of their role.

We welcome and encourage applications from all people of all backgrounds including young people, people with disabilities and/or additional needs, and ethnic minorities. Please read more about the opportunity and apply.