Local young people’s mental health and wellbeing are at the centre of a series of grants being awarded as part of Liverpool ONE Foundation’s annual funding programme. The Liverpool ONE Foundation has been investing in community projects that promote positive mental health and wellbeing amongst out city’s young people since its launch in 2009.
Administered by the Community Foundation for Merseyside (CFM), the primary focus is to improve young people’s wellbeing, as well as raising awareness of mental health issues. The Liverpool ONE Foundation supports organisations across the Liverpool City Region, including Halton, Knowsley, Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and Wirral.
During 2021 the following organisations are receiving grants to support youth people’s mental health:
Priority Youth Project will deliver wellbeing projects and workshops incorporating mindfulness techniques and skills as well as relaxation sessions including yoga for young people in the Liverpool area. They will also offer 1-1 counselling sessions for young people accessing their services.
A programme focusing on the emotional wellbeing of young people will be delivered by Ykids in the Sefton area. The courses will help young people recognise the issues they have faced during Covid-19, understanding the physical responses to stress and to help them learn more about themselves and why they respond in the way they do.
Monthly groups will be created to support young people in the St Helens area. They will be aimed at children aged 4-11 from families who are experiencing drug or alcohol issues and who are referred via support or social workers. They will enjoy a fun environment and take part in activities based around drama, art and music.
Support groups will be created for children who have lost a sibling and will encourage talking whilst partaking in different activities such as sport, creative projects and more. The sibling support groups will include family members and will help parents prevent the development of future mental health problems.
Cogs Education deliver the ARM (Arts, Resilience and Mental Health) project in schools across Merseyside. The funding will pay for two part time project officers to oversee the planning, running and evaluation of the project over a two-year period. ARM is an interactive, creative project working with some of the most vulnerable young people in Merseyside, to increase their self-awareness, resilience, and transferrable skills.
Working alongside Holly Cross Primary School and their pupils and parents, Engage & Change CIC will deliver sessions and qualifications based around mental health awareness and how it links into both exercise and nutrition as a complete holistic approach to helping improve a person’s life style and life chances.
Funding will allow the delivery of a psycho-education and therapeutic mental health programme supporting young people aged 8-16 and parents with workshops and sessions focused upon promoting mental wellness, self-care, connection and family time.
Funding will support the development of an ‘LGBT+ Me’ comics label, specifically devoted to educating, raising awareness, and tackling stigma associated with being an LGBTQIA young person today. It will aim to educate parents, guardians, and the wider community on how to better support the mental health of LGBTQIA youth aged 8-13 from escalating.
AP Coaching and Mentoring Academy CIC
Working with both Tuebrook Hope Centre and Liverpool Hope University, AP Coaching will work with four schools over a two year period to deliver their accredited Teenagers Matter programme which supports teenagers to build the resilience to overcome life’s challenges and the confidence to follow their dreams.
The Positivetree, based in Wirral, was founded to teach parents/carers skills that would enable them to be more resilient in their caring role by focussing on parent-carer wellbeing. The funding will employ a permanent Project Manager and will enable them to double the capacity to support parent/carers and the children and young people they care for; to double the amount of personal development and training opportunities available and to expand the current timetable of activities.