Edge Hill programme delivers on student experience

A sport, art and education-based mental health awareness programme developed by Edge Hill University and Everton in the Community has been awarded half a million pounds in recognition of the vital impact it has on the student experience.

The £527k funding boost from the Office for Students and Research England will ensure Edge Hill University can expand its successful collaborations with Everton in the Community and further grow arts and wellbeing activities with Tate Liverpool.

Dr Helen O’Keeffe, associate dean for Edge Hill’s Faculty of Education, said: “It’s fantastic news that the Office for Students and Research England sees our work as an example of best practice across the higher education sector.

“The Tackling the Blues project not only makes an important contribution to the student experience, employability, knowledge exchange and research, but it also makes a vital difference to the children and families we work with in the Liverpool City Region that suffer from some of the poorest health and wellbeing in the country.”

The award-winning Tackling the Blues targets young people aged 6-16 who are experiencing, or are at risk of developing, mental illness, and has already made a significant difference to people’s lives with participants feeling more confident and less anxious, and showing improved literacy and emotional intelligence skills.

Since its launch in 2013, Tackling the Blues has engaged more than 1,000 young people weekly in primary schools, secondary schools and community groups.