Published on: May 22, 2023
Compass GO… staff are visiting all schools in North East Lincolnshire to help young people learn how to develop internal strength to get them through difficult times.
The new resilience project is being led by Supervising Practitioner, Becca Holmes.
She said: “I am really privileged to be leading on this project. Health and wellbeing are something that I am really passionate about and to be able to bring this alive with a thread of mental health also is something that I am really excited about.
The project is commissioned by Public Health England. It was developed in response to the recent Adolescent Lifestyle Survey (ALS) completed in October 2021. The results of the survey, completed by over 7,000 children and young people attending between the ages of 11-16 years, highlighted areas in which support was required for young people within North East Lincolnshire.
One of the areas which was highlighted as an area of focus is the mental health and emotional wellbeing of children and young people:
- 38% of young people often feel sad or tearful
- 38% often feel anxious or depressed
- 56% seem to worry a lot of the time
Funding has been allocated from the Contain Outbreak Management Fund (COMF) to support with the recovery from COVID-19 and the impact that the pandemic has had on children’s mental health and emotional wellbeing.
The project will run on until March 2024 and 12 secondary school settings will be visited in all.
Service Manager, Laura Lockett, said: “We have a fantastic, dedicated Resilience Project team working in the local secondary schools.
“The results of the Adolescent Lifestyle Survey have come directly from the young people’s voices and to be able to tailor the workshops and assemblies according to their immediate, identified needs on a range of emotional and mental health wellbeing topics will make a huge difference to the young people of NE Lincolnshire.”
Becca said: “We look at all round resilience – the relationship between physical and mental health is a key theme running throughout all the packages.”
Themes include Emotional Resilience, Healthy Relationships, Sleep, Self-Care, Self-Esteem, Body Image, What is Resilience, Diet and Exercise, Aspirations and Learning to Fail.
“We aim to equip young people with skills to support their own wellbeing, in relation to these key themes.
She explained the project also aims to work with local community partners, to help young people to get involved in community activities such as exercise and sport classes, walking clubs, local LGBTQ+ and other support groups whilst also accessing extra-curricular clubs in schools to help build on young people’s aspirations, values and resilience.
The project aims to provide “pillars of hope and strength” to face difficulties in their lives.
Becca said: “Young people will be given education, knowledge and practical skills to enable them to manage their own wellbeing and also will be given support and advice on who they need to go to if they need further support.
And she added: “The project supports the whole school approach in line with the Mental Health Support Teams’ ethos and creates another route into supporting young people’s wellbeing.”
And she added: “I am really privileged to be leading on this project. I have a brilliant team who are also very excited about being able to support young people in making changes and together as a project we are so excited about the months ahead to really see where this project goes.”