The additional £2.5m, which will be used to support projects
relating the Welsh Government’s whole school approach to mental
health, was announced by Education Minister and Health and Social
Services Minister .
Working with partners on education, housing and employment to
protect good mental health is a key theme in the third delivery
plan for the Welsh Government’s mental health
strategy Together for Mental Health, which was
also published today.
The delivery plan recognises the progress that has been made to
improve access to mental health services and includes a range of
preventative actions including improving access to green spaces,
cultural activities and outdoor recreation to support mental
health and well-being.
As part of this approach, the whole school approach aims to
ensure that mental health and wellbeing become central to the way
schools work leading to more effective ways of prevention and
early intervention.
The announcement comes just over a year since the Welsh
Government formed a Joint Ministerial Task and Finish Group to
accelerate work on improving mental health and wellbeing support
in schools.
The group was set up following recommendations from the Mind over
Matter report released by the National Assembly for Wales’
Children, Young People and Education Committee in 2018.
The Ministers confirmed that local authorities and local health
boards would receive £1.5m and £264,000 respectively to support
projects across Wales.
Education Minister said: “The mental health
and wellbeing of our children and young people is so important
and I’m pleased to announce further support for our whole
school approach.
“Our National Mission places wellbeing at the core of our new
curriculum, supporting our children and young people to become
healthy confident individuals, who are building their mental
and emotional well-being by developing confidence, resilience
and empathy.”
Health and Social Services Minister, , added: “Ensuring our
children have access to effective mental health support is
essential if they are to grow up to be healthy and confident
individuals. I’m pleased to say that Wales has led the way by
providing counselling services for children and young people
aged between 11 and 18, as well as pupils in Year 6 of primary
school.
“Today I’ve also published the latest delivery plan of our
mental health strategy Together for Mental Health. The
principle of partnership working across Government, public and
third sectors underpins our approach, recognising no single
body or sector can transform services and improve the mental
health and well-being of our population alone.
"This ambitious plan takes us to the end of our 10 year
Strategy. During that time we’ve increased our investment in
mental health significantly In 2020-21 the ring fenced mental
health allocation for the NHS will be £712m. This represents an
increase of £109m since 2016-17.”
