The pilot is being run under the collegiate University’s Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy which emphasises the importance of interventions designed to promote good mental health.
The Mentally Healthy Universities Programme – a £1.5 million partnership between Mind and Goldman Sachs – will offer specialist training for students on resilience, and workplace wellbeing workshops for final year students who are about to graduate and transition into the workplace. The pilot will be delivered collaboratively with a small number colleges.
According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency, the number of students nationally who disclosed a mental health condition almost doubled between 2012 and 2015 to nearly 45,000. However, research suggests that mental health difficulties within Higher Education are currently under-reported as just one in 125 students (0.8%) and around one in 500 staff (0.2%) currently disclose a mental health condition to their university.
Chad Allen, Project Officer for the Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy at the University of Cambridge, said: “We are committed to making sure our students’ academic successes are supported by personal wellbeing, so we’re delighted to be part of this new initiative which will help support the vital work already under way at the University, and ensure students flourish during their education both academically and personally.”
Paul Farmer, Chief Executive of Mind, said: “We are really excited to be working with Goldman Sachs to better support thousands of university students and staff across England and Wales. We know that both students and staff face many pressures unique to the university environment. This timely opportunity allows us to deliver a programme that responds to the needs of university communities, building on good practice within the sector, to ensure everyone with a mental health problem receives support and respect.”
Richard Gnodde, CEO of Goldman Sachs International, said: “The transition through Higher Education and into the workforce is often a challenging and pressurised time in young people’s lives. We believe employers have an important role to play in changing attitudes towards mental health through providing support, resources and open conversation around an often stigmatised subject. We look forward to supporting Mind and Universities across the UK in establishing this critical programme.”
The 10 participating universities, are:
University of Cambridge
University of Bath
University of Greenwich
University of Bristol
Teesside University
The London School of Economics and Political Science
Leeds Beckett University
University of Sheffield
University of Central Lancashire
Oxford Brookes
Cambridge is one of 10 UK universities taking part in a new pilot programme to help support mental health provision for students and staff.
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