At its core, Forge does one thing: it creates the conditions for honest conversation about mental health between young people in Galashiels. Four programmes. One shared purpose.
young people reached
workshops delivered
felt better understood
That means designing workshops that feel nothing like a health appointment — they happen in community spaces, they are led by peers not clinicians, and they run at a pace set by the people in the room. A typical Understanding Your Mind session opens with a check-in, moves into a short facilitated discussion of a specific topic, then shifts to paired reflection or a practical exercise, and closes with space for questions and signposting.
Participants have handwritten notes, water, tea, and the quiet reassurance that nothing said in the room leaves the room. We deliberately avoid the language of pathology and illness, because most of the young people we work with are not clinically unwell — they are navigating the very real and specific pressures of early adulthood in a post-industrial Borders town, and they need understanding and practical tools, not a diagnosis.
Beyond the workshops themselves, Forge runs a monthly drop-in, trains new peer facilitators twice a year, and maintains an active referral relationship with NHS Borders and third-sector partners across the region. We track outcomes using a validated wellbeing measure completed at the start and end of each programme, and we publish our results annually because transparency about what works — and what doesn't — is fundamental to how we earn the trust of the community we serve.
Our most recent outcomes report shows 94% of workshop completers reporting a better understanding of their own mental health, and 71% going on to access additional support they had previously felt uncertain about how to reach.
All Forge programmes are free, confidential, and open to any 18- to 30-year-old who lives or works in the Scottish Borders.
Our flagship six-week workshop series helping 18- to 30-year-olds build practical, jargon-free knowledge about anxiety, low mood, stress, and self-care.
Held monthly in Galashiels community venues, Understanding Your Mind runs across six weekly two-hour sessions covering topics including how anxiety works in the body, the relationship between sleep and mood, recognising personal warning signs before they escalate, and navigating help-seeking in the Scottish Borders.
Sessions are capped at twelve participants to keep the conversation genuinely intimate, and each is co-facilitated by two trained peer facilitators. Every participant completes a short validated wellbeing measure at the start and end of the programme, and leaves with a personal wellbeing plan and a clear, annotated map of local support options.
Register interestA low-barrier, no-booking-required monthly space for any young Borders adult who wants to talk — or simply to be in a room with others who understand.
Drop-In Conversations take place on the last Thursday of each month in a community café space in central Galashiels, running for two hours in the early evening to suit people who work or study during the day.
There is no agenda and no expectation to share: attendees can speak with a peer facilitator one-to-one, join an open group conversation, or simply sit quietly with a mug of tea and take in the atmosphere. It is the most informal part of what we do, and it is consistently the entry point for young people who are not yet ready to commit to a structured programme.
Find out whenA free, accredited training programme preparing young Borders adults to become confident, supervised peer mental health facilitators.
Open to 18- to 30-year-olds with their own experience of mental health difficulties, the Forge Facilitator Training programme comprises thirty hours of in-person training in facilitation skills, mental health first aid, safeguarding, and personal self-care, delivered across eight weeks in Galashiels.
Graduates receive a recognised certificate, join our active facilitator team, and receive monthly group supervision with our clinical advisor. We have trained fourteen facilitators to date; several have gone on to paid roles in health and social care across the Borders, and one is now completing a nursing degree at Heriot-Watt.
Apply for trainingA practitioner network connecting Forge with NHS Borders, third-sector partners, and community organisations to close the gaps in young adult mental health support across the region.
Mental health support works best when local services are joined up and talking to each other. The Borders Wellbeing Network is Forge's contribution to that vision: a quarterly meeting of partner organisations — including the NHS Borders CAMHS transitions team, Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, and Scottish Borders Council's community learning and development team — where we share referral pathways, identify service gaps, and coordinate outreach efforts.
The network has produced a shared resource directory for Borders young adults, available free in print and online across Galashiels, Hawick, and Jedburgh, and has measurably reduced average referral response times between member organisations.
Partner with usForge welcomes warm referrals from GPs, social workers, school counsellors, community nurses, and any other professional supporting young adults in the Scottish Borders. We are not a clinical service — we do not replace NHS provision — but we work closely alongside it, and we can often offer access to a peer workshop within days of a referral being made.
If you are a professional looking to refer a young person, or if you would like to discuss how Forge might complement your own service, please get in touch with us directly. We are happy to meet, explain our safeguarding protocols, and share our outcomes data.
Contact our team
No referral required. No diagnosis needed. Just get in touch and we'll tell you what's coming up and where you fit in.