Bernadette Reith, Jane Pendlebury and Laura Salter are members of the Ross-on-Wye Mental Health Steering Group who are setting up a School’s project to collaborate with staff, pupils and parents to identify and support mental health issues in all educational settings.

The Mental Health Steering group was set up a year ago and is chaired by Phil Shackell, the Interim Public Health Mental Health Lead for Herefordshire County Council. It is a pilot scheme set up to help reduce the prevalence of mental health problems in our community and part of its remit is to consider what access young people in the local area have to mental health support.

With this in mind, Bernadette, Jane and Laura are working on a project for schools and other members of the group will join them further along in the process. They are all local to the area and between them, have extensive experience working with young people in the areas of education and counselling as well as a good knowledge of the difficulties schools face in the current climate. They hope to identify and share good practice already taking place in individual schools and provide a cohesive protocol that can be accessed by everyone.

They also hope to work together to identify any gaps in the service and to support schools in accessing any resources they may not be aware of and to consider any areas of funding that may be available.

Dr Simon Lennane, a GP in Ross and Mental Health Clinical Lead for the CCG, told the Ross Gazette: “It is refreshing to see an increased focus on mental health for our children and young people, both nationally and locally.

“Among other things, the rise of social media has led to unprecedented pressures felt by our young people, but we are becoming better at talking about mental health and wellbeing, and recognising problems. The schools project has come out of the Ross Wellbeing and Mental Health Group, and shows us that we can all help to reduce stigma and improve wellbeing in our society.”

Local Headteachers and Special Needs Coordinators have welcomed the initiative and a meeting is being arranged as an information-gathering exercise.

Bernadette told the Gazette: “With so much on this topic in the headlines lately, including the announcements by Teresa May earlier this month, it is good to know that young people’s mental health is already a priority for our local schools.”