Government announces extra £7m to train school mental health leads
Fiona Simpson
Thursday, May 12, 2022
A multi-million pound extension for the training of school mental health leads had been announced by the government.
A further £7 million has been added to the scheme to mark Mental Health Awareness Week (9 to 11 May).
It brings the total funding allocated for schools and colleges to train a senior mental health lead to £10m for the 2022/23 academic year.
According to latest figures from the Department for Education, Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Health and Social Care, more than 8,000 schools and colleges claimed a £1,200 grant to train a senior mental health lead between October 2021 and March 2022.
A government green paper on transforming mental health support for children and young people, first published in 2018, pledged to roll-out the training to all schools by 2025.
Children’s minister Will Quince said: I am continuing to work across government to ensure we meet the commitments set out in our mental health green paper. This includes rolling out mental health support teams so that millions of children across England can access the support they need.”
A further £1m has also been announced to support five leading youth organisations to continue anti-bullying programmes in schools until March 2023.
The grants, provided to National Children’s Bureau’s Anti-Bullying Alliance, Diversity Role Models, Equaliteach, Anne Frank Trust and The Diana Award, will focus on projects aimed at tackling bullying against children who identify as LGBT, those with special educational needs and disabilities, and victims of hate-related bullying, according to ministers.
The new funding comes after previous grants worth £1m were provided to the organisations in November.
