Redthread Youth Limited
Charity 1051260
Overview
Summary
Redthread appears to occupy a distinctive bridge position between youth work, healthcare and safeguarding. Rather than operating primarily as a general youth provider, it places relational support within hospitals and health settings, using contact with young people affected by violence, exploitation and health needs to offer practical help, advocacy and longer-term navigation. Its model also extends beyond direct support: it seeks to change how health professionals identify risk and how services and policy respond to young people’s experiences.
Operational geography
Evidence and reasoning
Supporting evidence
Edgbaston
Confidence: high
Direct current evidence identifies Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham as a Redthread delivery site, with youth workers based in emergency departments. Birmingham City Council material places the Queen Elizabeth Hospital site within Edgbaston ward.
- Redthread, “Our services” ([redthread.org.uk](https://www.redthread.org.uk/our-services-1?utm_source=openai))
Redthread states that its Birmingham work is delivered at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Heartlands Hospital, and that its youth workers are based in emergency departments in partnership with major trauma centres. - University Hospitals Birmingham, “Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham” and “Getting to Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham” ([uhb.nhs.uk](https://www.uhb.nhs.uk/getting-here/queen-elizabeth-hospital-birmingham/?utm_source=openai))
The NHS trust identifies the hospital as a major trauma centre. - Birmingham City Council, Edgbaston constituency profile ([birmingham.gov.uk](https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/31185/edgbaston_profile.pdf?utm_source=openai))
The Council identifies Queen Elizabeth Hospital as a major employer in Edgbaston ward.
Heartlands
Confidence: high
Direct current evidence identifies Heartlands Hospital as a Redthread delivery site, with youth workers based in emergency departments. Official hospital and Council planning material locate the hospital in the Heartlands ward.
- Redthread, “Our services” ([redthread.org.uk](https://www.redthread.org.uk/our-services-1?utm_source=openai))
Redthread lists Heartlands Hospital among its Birmingham delivery locations and describes its emergency-department-based youth work. - University Hospitals Birmingham, “Heartlands Hospital” ([uhb.nhs.uk](https://www.uhb.nhs.uk/services/surgery/on-the-day-of-your-operationsurgery/heartlands-hospital/?utm_source=openai))
The NHS trust confirms that Heartlands Hospital is part of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. - Birmingham City Council, planning application record for Birmingham Heartlands Hospital ([eplanning.birmingham.gov.uk](https://eplanning.birmingham.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?DAURI=PLANNING&FT=Planning+Application+Details&PARAM0=869322&PT=Planning+Applications+On-Line&PUBLIC=Y&TYPE=PL%2FPlanningPK.xml&XMLSIDE=%2FNorthgate%2FPlanningExplorer%2FSiteFiles%2FSkins%2FBirmingham%2FMenus%2FPL.xml&XSLT=%2FNorthgate%2FPlanningExplorer%2FSiteFiles%2FSkins%2FBirmingham%2Fxslt%2FPL%2FPLDetails.xslt&utm_source=openai))
The Council's planning record for Birmingham Heartlands Hospital identifies its ward as Heartlands.
Remaining uncertainties
- The evidence establishes two embedded hospital delivery sites in Birmingham, rather than a general network of neighbourhood services.
- Redthread's Birmingham Counselling Service is described as supporting 11-25 year olds in Birmingham and as offering outreach to reduce barriers to attendance, but its counselling venue(s), outreach locations and precise catchment are not published. It would therefore be unsafe to assign further Birmingham wards solely on that basis.
- The hospital-based model may support young people who live across Birmingham and beyond, but service users' home areas are not evidence that Redthread directly operates in those areas.
- Redthread describes itself as a national charity and says it works in ten hospitals across England; its currently listed hospital delivery locations are concentrated in London and Birmingham. The national coverage classification reflects the organisation's stated England-wide operational identity rather than a Birmingham-wide footprint.
Additional evidence needed
- A current Redthread Birmingham service or impact report identifying the delivery base, referral geography and any community-based follow-on support.
- Confirmation from Redthread or University Hospitals Birmingham of whether the Queen Elizabeth and Heartlands emergency-department services remain commissioned and staffed, including their current scope.
- Published information identifying whether the Birmingham Counselling Service delivers from either hospital, from another fixed site, remotely, or through dispersed community venues.
Areas of work
- Education/training
- The Advancement Of Health Or Saving Of Lives
Who they help
- Children/young People
- The General Public/mankind
How they help
- Provides Advocacy/advice/information
- Provides Human Resources
- Provides Services
Discoveries involving this organisation
The Atlas has not published any Discoveries involving this organisation yet.
Observations
Hospital settings are used as a point of early connection
Redthread appears to treat hospitals not only as places of treatment but as opportunities to reach young people at moments of heightened vulnerability, when youth work and safeguarding support may be more accessible or relevant.
Why it matters
This helps explain its role in the local system: it may complement services that rely on young people independently seeking help by meeting them within an existing health encounter.
Show evidence
“Redthread is a national charity delivering transformative youth work in hospitals and health settings.”
Source:Organisation“We work in ten hospitals across England, supporting children and young people.”
Source:Organisation
Its offer combines immediate practical support with youth-led navigation
The available evidence suggests Redthread’s intervention is not limited to advice or crisis response: it may use practical assistance and sustained, youth-led relationships to help young people define and pursue their own next steps.
Why it matters
This distinguishes the organisation from a purely clinical, informational or enforcement-led response. Its value may lie in translating between young people’s immediate needs and multiple formal services.
Show evidence
“Young people set their own goals.”
Source:Organisation“We get young people a blanket if they are cold, or food if they are hungry.”
Source:Organisation“To walk alongside the young people we engage with, as they journey into adulthood.”
Source:Charity Commission
Direct practice appears designed to influence the wider system
Redthread appears to use frontline insight as a platform for workforce development and policy influence, potentially linking individual experiences of harm with changes in professional practice and public systems.
Why it matters
This suggests its strategic role is broader than service delivery. It may act as an intermediary that brings youth-work insight into healthcare, safeguarding and policy conversations.
Show evidence
“We train NHS staff and other professionals to better identify and support children at risk.”
Source:Organisation“We use evidence and insights from our work with young people to improve services and influence policy.”
Source:Organisation“We campaign to develop services, change policy and improve professional practice for vulnerable children and young people.”
Source:Organisation
- Which hospitals and communities are served, and whether provision is concentrated in particular regions.
- How Redthread works with NHS trusts, local authorities, schools, police, voluntary organisations and families.
- Whether young people affected by different risks receive materially different forms of support or outcomes.
Remaining uncertainties
- Recent annual reports or impact evaluations showing reach, referrals, demographics, outcomes and duration of support.
- Details of hospital partnerships, referral pathways, follow-on partners and the evidence used in policy and training work.
Additional evidence needed
Charity Commission profile
Activities
Youth Work - to provide, and support, youthwork which focuses on the holistic wellbeing of young people: body, mind and soul. To walk alongside the young people we engage with, as they journey into adulthood.
Charity objects
(1) the advancement of health or saving of lives through the preservation and protection of the health and wellbeing of young people by providing and assisting in the provision of facilities, counselling, support services and equipment not normally provided by the statutory authorities (2) the advancement of education of young people through the provision of information and outreach to improve their health and wellbeing