The MIND-ED-UCATION

Following extensive research and consultation, The Trust believes that, in order to both eradicate stigma and develop effective in-school and community mental health programmes, every youth and young adult organisation needs to initiate a mindEducation “journey”. Stigma will only be destroyed via inclusive programmes which embrace all stakeholders, including not just young people, but teachers, parents, health professionals and managers. It is only by talking openly and widely about mental health that we will effect a long overdue paradigm shift in mental health perception and a change in social values.

Every school and youth organisation is different. With 75% of all mental illness pre-dating higher education and less than 10% of all current mental health funding directed to this demographic, there is a desperate need to improve mental health literacy and resilience in every educational establishment. However, there are no “quick fixes” and “one size fits all” solutions. In order to be effective, a mindEducation programme has to be multi-faceted and deeply embedded into the practice and consciousness of an organisation. At the same time, programmes have to be customised and focused on the specific needs, characteristics and resources of each participating organisation from primary education through to higher education and beyond.

Through the application of experience, expertise and funding, The MindEd Trust will assist all schools and colleges in the formulation and application of comprehensive and sustainable emotional intelligence and wellbeing programmes. This is achieved via phased consultation and the importation of knowledge, expertise and resources from across the full spectrum of public healthcare, academia, charitable bodies, counselling services, training initiatives and mental health resources, both physical and digital.

Most schools and colleges are only too well aware of the mounting problem of youth psychosis and its growing negative impact on learning, outcomes and communities. The MindEd Trust works closely with all organisations in constructing programmes to tackle this problem head-on.

Whilst the Trust has a national and international profile and reach, particular attention is being directed to schools and colleges in Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire in the UK with a view to establishing best practice locally which is rapidly recognised and transposed to the national policy agenda.