Government announces new early mental health support funding for youngsters

We're pleased to see that the Government are prioritising their support for young people's mental health with today's £5m 'early support hubs' announcement. With 1 in 6 young people identified as having a mental health problem, it's a timely and important step.

Young people often don't realise help is available for them, as a recent survey by YoungMinds recently found. Stigma is still such a key factor when young people need support, as many feel embarrassed to ask for help. The Government's new drop-in centres will offer mental health support and advice to young people without needing an appointment or a referral. We hope that this easy access will save lives and ensure fewer youngsters reach crisis point. Next step must be a hub within every community.

At St Andrew's, we are supporting schools and educators to help our young people. Our pioneering LightBulb Mental Health Wellness programme for schools is really seeing results, with over 30,000 children and staff, across over 50 schools, now completing the programme.

LightBulb is an initiative that is available all year round and provides the participating school with mental health awareness and support training for all school staff as well as sessions for both parents and students. Each session talks about symptoms, support and signposts resources. ​​​​​​​

The LightBulb programme is suitable for both primary and secondary schools up and down the country. St Andrew’s Healthcare is a charity and therefore the programme is not a profit-making initiative, which means the pricing structure has been created to ensure it is affordable to all schools.

For more information about the LightBulb programme, click here.