An evaluation of the Peer Support for Mental Health and Wellbeing Pilots, which have been running since 2018, found that while the programme was met with “considerable enthusiasm” from young people interested in the peer mentor roles, there was less interest in actually receiving help.
The DfE launched the pilots, run by the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, in 100 schools and colleges across East Sussex, Ipswich, Derby, Oldham, West Midlands and Bradford – all regions that have been designated as "opportunity areas" as part of government efforts to improve social mobility through education.
The evaluation report found that there was a "considerable appetite" for the initiative among participating schools, with a "real sense of unmet need", with many reporting that they were limited in what they could offer to young people below the threshold for clinical intervention.
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