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What if I'm over 25?
TheMix
Posts: 3,199 Boards Guru
Hey all!
As you know, The Mix is a service for young people aged 13-25, and that hasn’t changed. In the past, we took a more case-by-case approach when deciding if members could stay beyond their 26th birthday. However, we now want to ensure a clearer process for everyone by applying the same transition support to all members reaching this milestone to ensure things are fair.
This means that everyone who turns 26, or is already 26, will be supported to transition gradually away from The Mix going forward.
This change is designed to create a clearer and more consistent approach for supporting members to move on from Community as they approach their 26th birthday and exit our age remit.
If you are very soon to be 26, or you're past your 26th birthday, please don't worry! You will not be asked to leave The Mix all of a sudden. That wouldn't be fair, and we want to do our best to work with you each individually to provide you with plenty of time to think about what your best next step might be, for us to provide you with resources to support your transition away, and to give you space to process this change too.
We appreciate that there may be a lot of questions raised by us getting back-to-base again with the age remit of our service, so we have answered questions which we believe could come up after receiving this news. It would be great if you folks could have a read-through below.
We know that we may not have covered every question you have, so we would be grateful if you could ask any other questions below and we will answer them as best we can.
This is a change in our Community, and understandably may raise lots of different feelings, so we want to hear all of your thoughts and views. Remember - every single one of your feelings are valid here. You are all welcome to use the replies to this post as a place to vent about the feelings stirred up by this adjustment.
As you know, The Mix is a service for young people aged 13-25, and that hasn’t changed. In the past, we took a more case-by-case approach when deciding if members could stay beyond their 26th birthday. However, we now want to ensure a clearer process for everyone by applying the same transition support to all members reaching this milestone to ensure things are fair.
This means that everyone who turns 26, or is already 26, will be supported to transition gradually away from The Mix going forward.
This change is designed to create a clearer and more consistent approach for supporting members to move on from Community as they approach their 26th birthday and exit our age remit.
If you are very soon to be 26, or you're past your 26th birthday, please don't worry! You will not be asked to leave The Mix all of a sudden. That wouldn't be fair, and we want to do our best to work with you each individually to provide you with plenty of time to think about what your best next step might be, for us to provide you with resources to support your transition away, and to give you space to process this change too.
We appreciate that there may be a lot of questions raised by us getting back-to-base again with the age remit of our service, so we have answered questions which we believe could come up after receiving this news. It would be great if you folks could have a read-through below.
What happens when I turn 26?
When you turn 26, you’ll be outside the age range for our Community, which means you’ll no longer be able to log into your current Discussion Boards account, make a new account, or access our Group Chat spaces.
Will I be ‘cut off’ suddenly?
We totally understand that moving on from The Mix Community can bring up a mix of emotions. That’s why our Community Team will check in with you via DM 6 months, 3 months, and then 1 month before your 26th birthday. We want to begin conversations early about your transition and offer support in finding alternative spaces that feel right for you.
We will also provide you with the last date that you can access our Community. This is so that you have a clear timeline of your last month and are able to say your goodbyes before you transition out of our spaces.
Why don’t you support people who are older than 25?
The Mix is a dedicated youth charity operating within the wider Mental Health Innovations organisation. Our funding is specifically allocated to providing services for young people aged 13-25, ensuring that our support, resources, and referrals are tailored to this age group. Additionally, our database of external support services is designed to meet the needs of young people within this age range. This means that we cannot meaningfully support people over the age of 25 in the same way we can with younger members.
Why don’t you support people who are 12 and under?
We're unable to support people who are 12 and under because our Community is tailored towards those are 13-25. This includes the safeguarding procedures we follow, our funding, and our database of external support services.
What if I’m already past my 26th birthday?
If you are already past your 26th birthday and have a discussion boards account, we will be in touch with you shortly to begin your transition outside of our Community. Alternatively, we also kindly ask that you let us know if you are past your 26th birthday by either DMing us on here or sending an email to community@themix.org.uk so that we can discuss this with you.
How come some over 25+ Community members used to be allowed to stay around but now they can’t? What’s changed?
You are right that we used to take a more case-by-case approach when it came to allowing members to remain active on Community after they turned 26. However, to be more consistent in our approaches, we are shifting to a more standardised procedure for all members.
What support is available to me throughout the Over 25s Transition Process?
As a staff team, we will aim to get in touch with yourself around 6 months, 3 months, and then 1 month before your 26th birthday so that we can have a conversation with you about what kind of support you might be looking for as you transition away from The Mix.
What will happen to my account and all my Discussion Boards posts after I leave?
We will ask you for your preferences about how you would like your account to be closed down, e.g. whether you would like your old posts to remain visible on the public forum or to be removed.
If you do choose to keep your posts visible rather than deleting them, because The Mix Discussion Boards are a publicly-accessible forum, you will still be able to read over your own posts without logging in.
How can I say goodbye to friends here on Community when I turn 26?
This is a great question, and we invite all members to make an optional goodbye post on Boards before they leave.
If you’ve been attending Group Chats too, in the weeks before you leave you're more than welcome to say your goodbyes in our group chats to your fellow peers and mods.
When you turn 26, you’ll be outside the age range for our Community, which means you’ll no longer be able to log into your current Discussion Boards account, make a new account, or access our Group Chat spaces.
Will I be ‘cut off’ suddenly?
We totally understand that moving on from The Mix Community can bring up a mix of emotions. That’s why our Community Team will check in with you via DM 6 months, 3 months, and then 1 month before your 26th birthday. We want to begin conversations early about your transition and offer support in finding alternative spaces that feel right for you.
We will also provide you with the last date that you can access our Community. This is so that you have a clear timeline of your last month and are able to say your goodbyes before you transition out of our spaces.
Why don’t you support people who are older than 25?
The Mix is a dedicated youth charity operating within the wider Mental Health Innovations organisation. Our funding is specifically allocated to providing services for young people aged 13-25, ensuring that our support, resources, and referrals are tailored to this age group. Additionally, our database of external support services is designed to meet the needs of young people within this age range. This means that we cannot meaningfully support people over the age of 25 in the same way we can with younger members.
Why don’t you support people who are 12 and under?
We're unable to support people who are 12 and under because our Community is tailored towards those are 13-25. This includes the safeguarding procedures we follow, our funding, and our database of external support services.
What if I’m already past my 26th birthday?
If you are already past your 26th birthday and have a discussion boards account, we will be in touch with you shortly to begin your transition outside of our Community. Alternatively, we also kindly ask that you let us know if you are past your 26th birthday by either DMing us on here or sending an email to community@themix.org.uk so that we can discuss this with you.
How come some over 25+ Community members used to be allowed to stay around but now they can’t? What’s changed?
You are right that we used to take a more case-by-case approach when it came to allowing members to remain active on Community after they turned 26. However, to be more consistent in our approaches, we are shifting to a more standardised procedure for all members.
What support is available to me throughout the Over 25s Transition Process?
As a staff team, we will aim to get in touch with yourself around 6 months, 3 months, and then 1 month before your 26th birthday so that we can have a conversation with you about what kind of support you might be looking for as you transition away from The Mix.
What will happen to my account and all my Discussion Boards posts after I leave?
We will ask you for your preferences about how you would like your account to be closed down, e.g. whether you would like your old posts to remain visible on the public forum or to be removed.
If you do choose to keep your posts visible rather than deleting them, because The Mix Discussion Boards are a publicly-accessible forum, you will still be able to read over your own posts without logging in.
How can I say goodbye to friends here on Community when I turn 26?
This is a great question, and we invite all members to make an optional goodbye post on Boards before they leave.
If you’ve been attending Group Chats too, in the weeks before you leave you're more than welcome to say your goodbyes in our group chats to your fellow peers and mods.
We know that we may not have covered every question you have, so we would be grateful if you could ask any other questions below and we will answer them as best we can.
This is a change in our Community, and understandably may raise lots of different feelings, so we want to hear all of your thoughts and views. Remember - every single one of your feelings are valid here. You are all welcome to use the replies to this post as a place to vent about the feelings stirred up by this adjustment.
Post edited by TheMix on
4
Comments
oh no
I’ve skimmed over the post in fairness but I do want to know why this had to change now. You say it’s a standardised approach, but the old approach worked. People did eventually move on as they got older, and if they didn’t, they might have been encouraged to rely less on the community for support. People moved on when their friends moved on mostly.
And we can't even sign in? Even childline which is strictly for under 19s lets you sign in and look at your old stuff.
that would be interesting @DonnerKebab
@DonnerKebab what about the technical bits of it all? for example, dont you need to register the website as a charity? i dont know how this all would work. im just wondering if you know.
@DonnerKebab alright. i wish you good luck.
To be fair depending how long I got on here, having an over 25s mix would definitely be handy in the future. Its something I would want to do actually myself in the near future. Set something up that actually helps people you know.
This website was the only place I felt I could address my needs and stuff because other types of therapy and other websites like silvercloud did not help me one bit. I'm just worried this place is exactly becoming like that and the charity I went to in my town which has ceased trading because they changed too much. Feels like the support network I'm using is going the same way.
Thank you so much for your questions and feedback here. We appreciate there is a lot going on right now which may be extreamly hard.
We wanted to get back to your questions here as quickly as we can:
Why are you reinforcing the age-remit in this way now specifically, but not before?
In accordance with safeguarding updates taking place as part of our ongoing merger with MHI, we have been informed by management to reinforce our age-remit policy of 13 - 25 at this time.
are there are any sources which have the same community feel to them for over 25s?
Yes! There are Community spaces available for people who are over 25. For example, Mind run a space called Side by Side which follows a very similar model to us here at The Mix, except it is for adults 18+ with no upper age limit. Mixers have been known to move on here in the past.
Can you provide a comprehensive list of support you'll be providing for others through the transition period?
As we support members who are moving on from The Mix due to turning 26, we will work collaboratively 1:1 to understand what kinds of services you might be interested in and provided a tailored list of further spaces. We can look for emotional support services, counselling and therapy services, as well as advice places or services offering practical help across a range of themes.
If you feel it might be helpful for us to make a thread which shares more generalised services for people over 25 more broadly, we can certainly create that too! What do you think?
If you have more questions, please do keep them coming! We're reading all your feedback carefully and are here.
Hope you can take care of yourselves at this time.
For young people up to 25 (but not above unfortunately) there is also a service called Tellmi -
Very much hear what you're saying about the gap for those over 25, however, and that's a really important point for us to be holding in mind.
There is a huge support gap for those over 25. Sure there's issue based services, but if you're not young or old, there are very few all round services. None of them, to my knowledge, offer group chat spaces either.