Hopes for Lancashire ‘healing cafés’ from 16-year-old entrepreneur
Cheroken Reigo-Bentley is working with her father David to launch a series of mental health cafés in Lancashire from next year.
Running a business is a tough gig for anybody - never mind doing it as a teenager.
But for 16-year-old Cheroken Reigo-Bentley, that’s exactly what she plans to do as she looks to launch her own ‘healing cafés’ across Lancashire.
While a big goal for someone so young, the Preston student has already joined up with her father David in the family business, and say they are already in the process of securing their first premises in Kendal to be opened in February.
According to Cheroken, the ‘HEAL Collective’ will be a safe space for young people struggling with their mental health.
”It’s basically a therapy café that allows adolescents and other demographics to come in, without the pressures of clinical therapy,” Cheroken told the Lancashire Post.
“I’ve grown up listening to psychology, and I study business, and I just had a huge interest. I liked hearing it from my dad and my business teacher - I had a really huge interest because of her.
“I want it to be a place that people feel comfortable to go to. Many people think of therapy as clinical, and I want them to see us as a place to go to where they can discover their struggles and grow personally without society seeing that as a problem.
“There’s a stereotype of mentally ill people, and it makes them feel really embarrassed. I want them to see it as a safe place.”
As it stands, roughly one in five young people struggle with a mental health condition, with the figure steadily rising over the past decade.
As a result, there is an increased demand on many mental health services, as waiting lists span months or even years for some conditions.
Cheroken hopes that her idea for mental health cafés will allow young people to have a supportive space without the waiting lists.
She hopes the project will launch next year, though it is still in planning and procurement stages.
“It was all her idea to start a mental health café,” said David.
“We’re trying to get a property at the moment, but we’ve got everything going as regards to a place where we can do the micro café. From there, she’s going to try and build these cafés at different venues across the next few years around the Preston and Blackpool area, and probably around the Liverpool area.
“We want the building to be a safe space where people can come and not have that clinical environment - more like a chilled out café, but you’ve got therapy on board there.
“It’s something that is quite close to our heart.”