This initiative focuses on delivering mental health education and support to secondary school youth. Addressing mental health at an early stage is crucial, especially considering the challenges faced by many young individuals today.
The statistics concerning the mental health of children and young people are alarming. The Mental Health of Children and Young People in England 2023 report, published by NHS England, revealed that 20.3% of 8 to 16-year-olds had a probable mental health condition in 2023. This means that one in five young people is struggling with their mental health. Unfortunately, the current state of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting lists exacerbates the issue. It is disheartening to note that a significant number of young people find themselves trapped on the waiting list for mental health services. Sadly, due to the overwhelming demand and limited resources, many individuals who are not considered critical enough are overlooked, leaving them without the essential support they desperately require. The situation worsens because these young individuals often wait months or even years before they can access the help they need.
To bridge the gap, we at SYfC, in collaboration with churches, aim to offer free mental health support to every school in Swindon through our three-tier project designed as follows:
- Tier one: A six-week engaging PSHE lesson (Personal, Social, Health, and Economic) lesson plan for year eight students. This plan covers various topics such as attitudes to mental health, promoting emotional well-being, digital resilience, healthy coping strategies, and dealing with change, loss and grief.
- Tier two: Six-week group mentoring sessions with a maximum of six young people who are struggling with specific issues at a time. These sessions will address topics such as identity, anxiety, Self-Harm, suicide, grief, body image and exam stress.
- Tier Three: For those young people who require one-to-one support, we will provide a listening service of six thirty-minute sessions with those trained to provide a listening service. These sessions can be extended, if necessary, beyond the six.
If this project is something you are interested in, we would love to hear from you. Perhaps you would like to volunteer to become a listener in one of our schools? Or perhaps you work within a secondary school and would like us to come along side you and support your young people? As always, this project will be absolutely free to schools, but still requires funding, perhaps it is on your heart to support the project financially?
Do please get in touch
You can make a donation for our Healthy Minds Project by Downloading and Completing this form donation form cup of tea – Swindon Youth for Christ
