Richard Luscombe Argyle Community Trust is proud to be running a programme working with children and young people whose mental health has been most disproportionately affected by COVID-19 in Cornwall.
Funding from the Government Contain Outbreak Management Fund (COMF) is facilitating the project to support the mental wellbeing of young people aged 10 to 16 by enabling a Trust Mental Wellbeing practitioner to work with schools in Cornwall. This practitioner supports those most vulnerable and at-risk who were already struggling with their mental health and wellbeing before the COVID-19 lockdowns and require extra help to deal with the stress and anxiety.
The practitioner supports pupils by offering a range of interventions, helping raise awareness of mental health and wellbeing, and educating parents, students, and teachers. They work alongside student support services and pastoral care within the school with those most in need being offered low intensity cognitive behavioural therapy.
Support is provided during and outside of school hours, with the Trust utilising its extensive coaching and sports experience to encourage and support children to be more active by providing ideas on how to keep fit, and advice on healthy eating.
COMF funding is provided by Cornwall Council with support from Children and Family Services and Cornwall Voluntary Sector Forum and provides funding to local authorities in England to help reduce the impact of coronavirus and support local public health.
Argyle Community Trust CEO, Mark Lovell, adds: “We are immensely proud of our work through the pandemic, as highlighted in our COVID Impact report. We worked with people of all ages to positively impact their mental health. Initiatives included online mental health team talks, to the hugely successful ‘Tackling Loneliness Together’ project which saw staff engage with the most vulnerable members of the communities we serve.
We know that poor mental health and wellbeing are issues affecting a growing number of people of all ages in Cornwall. We identified the need for ongoing support for mental health following the pandemic, so we are delighted to be able to offer this project for the young people and families of Cornwall.
We seek to make a long-term difference by providing early intervention to support children to better understand their mental health and wellbeing and better deal with periods of stress, anxiety and setbacks to improve resilience.”
Trust Operations Manager Jason Chapman adds: “We have been running the programme since January this year with 9 schools across Cornwall, engaging with over 100 young people. We are already seeing the positive impact the project is having on lives in the region as we look to make a lasting difference following the challenging events of COVID-19.”
