The Ace Project

The ACE Project was established 3 years ago when Co-founder, Jo Flack, quit her job as a Higher Needs teacher to found ACE. Working in education with young people with a range of barriers to engagement, Jo became acutely aware of the lack of provision for young people with mental health difficulties, particularly those in transition from compulsory education and those transitioning into adult services.

The ACE Project is a charity in the true sense of the word – created to improve the lives of young people experiencing mental health difficulties in response to an identified need. 

The project takes its name from the A.C.E approach to wellbeing, a model that supported the founder’s own recovery from OCD. It stands for: Achieve, Connect, Enjoy. It is about enabling young people to meet their emotional needs through learning skills and strategies to help them progress in life, connect with others, and have the opportunity to relax and take pleasure in things. When developing the project plan, ACE worked directly with young people to produce a model of working that would meet the need in Suffolk. And the result was the development of a fully inclusive offer that is available free of charge to any young person aged 16-24 who is seeking support for their wellbeing, whether they have a diagnosis or not.

The ACE Project runs weekly wellbeing workshops which provide a much-needed space for young people to come together as a supportive network of peers to learn and practise skills for wellbeing in an atmosphere conducive to building confidence and self-worth; a fitness to give the young people the opportunity to access physical activity as a means to further promote positive behavioural change and boost emotional wellbeing; 1:1 advice and guidance and therapy sessions.

 With your support we can empower young people with mental health challenges to achieve, connect and enjoy for wellbeing so they can live the life they want to lead.