Child-first coaching to support young people’s mental health

A group of charities, policymakers and educators with a passion for using sport to improve the health and wellbeing of children are supporting efforts for physical activity to be socially prescribed through primary care networks.

The Children’s Coaching Collaborative is a collection of organisations including Sport England, Mind, Unicef and Street Games who are working together to create a nation of “child-first” coaches who place children’s rights, enjoyment and wellbeing at the centre of coaching through the Play Their Way campaign.

Nationally, more children than ever need mental health care as NHS figures show nearly half a million are awaiting treatment. This is a trend that is showing little sign of slowing down. The number of children referred to emergency mental health care in England has soared by more than 50 per cent in three years – if we are to say we are doing everything we can to support the wellbeing of our young people, we must completely rethink our approach to care.