The LPP Foundation, the City of Gdańsk and the FOSA Foundation create a support point for young people at Metropolia shopping mall in Gdańsk

The LPP Foundation has joined forces with the City of Gdańsk, the FOSA Foundation and Metropolia shopping mall to create another place where every teenager will find support and psychological assistance. The Blue Sneakers Club [Niebieskie Trampki w Metropolii] at Metropolia is the result of a partnership between the city local government, a non-governmental organisation and the business to support the mental health of young people. The new place, located in a Gdansk shopping centre, will provide young people with the necessary help in crisis situations, as well as social integration and space for creative leisure activities under the care of specialists.

The Blue Sneakers Club at Metropolia is a joint initiative of the LPP Foundation, the City of Gdańsk, the FOSA Foundation and the Metropolia shopping mall and a response to the need to support young people in the area of mental health.

Recent research conducted by the FOSA Foundation, which has been carrying out projects offering specialised assistance in this area for years, shows that in times of pandemic and social isolation, teenagers are more likely to experience anxiety and have difficulty expressing their emotions. In addition, they often lack someone to talk to about problems, which results in social withdrawal and the manifestation of depressive symptoms. The new partnership project (the first club has been operating for two years at Forum shopping mall in Gdańsk) is an effort to address the existing deficiencies in access to psychological help and is another step in the LPP Foundation’s activities for young people in the Pomeranian region.

– Since its inception, the LPP Foundation has been involved in local social initiatives aimed at young people, and one of our main missions is to prevent social exclusion. Statistics show that the mental health of teenagers has been exposed to many negative factors in recent years; therefore, we focus on developing our activities in terms of minimising barriers to accessing psychological help. We want the Blue Sneakers Club at Metropolia to become a place where everyone is offered the understanding and support they need. We believe that this project will become an important element of help for young Pomeranian residents and will additionally raise public awareness of this important topic – emphasizes Patrycja Zbytniewska, leader for sustainable reporting and community relations, president of the LPP Foundation.

The creation of a new meeting point at a shopping mall – a place where teenagers feel comfortable and willing to spend their free time after school – allows us to be more effective at reaching people who are afraid to ask for help on their own in moments of crisis. At Galeria Metropolia in Gdańsk, which has provided the premises free of charge, teenagers aged between 14 and 18 will find a safe space to talk and spend their free time. The innovative form of the club involves young people in actively co-creating the place. As part of the content-related activities carried out with the support of the LPP Foundation, they can participate in workshops, enjoy a range of games and recreational activities adapted to the age of the participants, developing their interests and strengthening their competences. The schedule of activities will be supervised by animators and streetworkers, whose main task is to provide individual care and implement activities that encourage self-esteem enhancement and inclusion in the peer environment. All activities take into account the integration of Polish and Ukrainian youth and are designed in a way that ensures no barriers in communication due to origin or language. Support in this area is provided by a specialised staff of carers who speak Polish, Ukrainian, and Russian.

– The City of Gdansk has been supporting the mental health of its residents for years. Since 2016, it has allocated over PLN 15 million to this end, and the programme’s budget is being successively increased. This year, a resolution was passed to continue the Gdańsk Mental Health Programme for 2024-2026. Its aim is to create a local system that provides optimum conditions for the mental health of people living in Gdańsk, but also to improve the quality of life of people in crisis and with mental disorders, their families, carers, and people in their surroundings. Of course, an extremely important element are those activities that we target at children and young people, so as to respond to their needs effectively. The Blue Sneakers are a perfect match for the needs and mental health challenges of our youngest city residents – says Monika Chabior, deputy mayor of Gdańsk for social development and equal treatment.

The club at Metropolia is not only a place for integration, development of interests and respite from problems. It is also intended to support young people in building coping mechanisms in crisis situations and provide them with comprehensive assistance, both preventive and socio-therapeutic in nature, including, among other things, psychological consultations, as well as mediation or intervention in difficult situations. Meetings with teenagers are organised in open, non-obvious spaces in order to change the stereotypical image of the psychologist and show that mental health is an important topic that can be discussed anytime and under any conditions. All activities of the youth club have been developed on the basis of the original programme developed by Fundacja Oparcia Społecznego Aleksandry FOSA.

– The FOSA Foundation has been following the needs of people with mental health difficulties for 15 years. We try to respond to the most urgent needs of the moment. This was the case with assisted housing, vocational activation or support in one’s place of residence. Currently, the most urgent topic has become helping young people, children and adolescents. The “Blue Sneakers” project we developed makes use of many tools, forms and methods to help this group of recipients as quickly and effectively as possible. These include workshops in schools, social campaigns, psychological education of parents and carers, direct interventions or specialised support. In addition, we are present on social media, which young people reach out to, and we also carry out streetworking activities in places where young people hang out – which is what our clubs at shopping malls are. We are right next door, getting the youth accustomed to a psychologist and an intimate conversation, giving a sense of security, but also creating a space for safe contacts and the development of acceptable behaviour – says Alinka Kaszkiel-Suska, president of the FOSA Foundation.

The opening of the Blue Sneakers Club at Metropolia shopping mall in Gdańsk took place on 7 December 2023. The venue is available for teenagers aged 14 to 18, Monday to Friday from 12:00 to 19:00.

____________________________________

LPP is a Polish family business and one of the fastest growing clothing companies in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. For 30 years, it has been successfully operating in Poland and abroad, offering its collections in such prestigious capitals as London, Helsinki or Tel Aviv. LPP manages five fashion brands: Reserved, Cropp, House, Mohito, and Sinsay, whose offer is available today in stationary and online stores in nearly 40 markets worldwide. The company has a chain of over 2000 stores with the total area of 1.7 million m2 and distributes clothing and accessories to 3 continents every year. LPP also plays an important role as it employs nearly 30 thousand people in its offices and sales structures in Poland, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The company is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in the WIG20 index and belongs to the prestigious MSCI Poland index.