The Mental Health Programme aims to improve and maintain mental health in children and young people. It aims to do this through projects which target specific areas of mental health in children and young people, including but not limited to: health education, awareness of mental illness, social interventions and advocacy. This may involve working with parents, teachers and other members of the child’s care network. This programme acknowledges that many of the factors impacting mental health in children and young people are associated with broader society, including but not limited to: personal safety, access to education, climate change and nutrition.

Programme Selection

When we looked at the Global Health landscape, we noticed mental health stands out as a significant, unmet need. Mental illness carries with it not just personal struggles, but also profound social and economic impacts, sometimes leading to a diminished life expectancy and quality of life.

We appraised this in the context of other Global Health and student-led or student-driven charities and decided that by focusing our efforts on mental health, we believe we can create meaningful and lasting change.

We also feel that mental health pertains to several areas in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:

• Article 6: Every child has the right to life. Governments must do all they can to ensure that children survive and develop to their full potential.

• Article 13: Every child must be free to express their thoughts and opinions and to access all kinds of information, as long as it is within the law.

• Article 24: Every child has the right to the best possible health. Governments must provide good quality health care, clean water, nutritious food, and a clean environment and education on health and well-being so that children can stay healthy. Richer countries must help poorer countries achieve this.

• Article 29: Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment.

Programme Projects

Within the Mental Health Programme, we will create projects in focused areas. In early 2024, we will be commencing a research phase, to identify which key area to commence our pilot project in. Over time, we will anticipate running several projects under the umbrella of the Mental Health Programme. As such, we will be recruiting for further positions to join the charity across 2024.

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