Location and general information
Access to Sport - 
Children with disabilities - 
Healthy lifestyle - 
Personal developmentContext
Inequality is a serious problem in severely deprived areas where people are exposed to multiple risk factors, including mental illness, adverse childhood experiences and limited opportunities. Liverpool is the third most health-deprived area in England. Children and young people frequently have to wait a long time for treatment and a high proportion of youngsters with mental health issues do not receive any treatment at all.
The Tackling the Blues project seeks to address the complex social determinants and inequalities associated with mental health and illness. This is done by applying mechanisms for social inclusion and equity, namely by providing local schools with services that they would not otherwise have access to.
The project develops the youngsters’ knowledge and understanding of positive mental health strategies and resilience, which may render intervention by mental health services unnecessary. An external review by RealWorth calculated that Tackling the Blues had a societal value of £7,354,000, which suggests that it is having a significant impact for its beneficiaries.
Project goals
- Reduce inequalities and support children and young people in severely deprived areas by offering insight into the importance of positive mental health
- Support schools in the introduction of a whole-school approach to mental health
- Provide inclusive activities for children and young people, such as art, sport and education
- Adopt a mentoring approach to help pupils into full-time employment
Project content
- Weekly sessions will be delivered in the top 10% of Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOA) where deprivation is a serious problem and access to sport is limited.
- The project helps schools introduce a whole-school approach to mental health. Consultation with partner schools identifies relevant issues and how the project can offer support.
- Sport, art and education promote significant benefits for children’s mental and physical health. These activities will be major deliverables throughout the Tackling the Blues project.
- The project will provide students at Edge Hill University with opportunities for knowledge exchange so that they can improve skills and experience in planning and implementing mental health projects based on sport, art and education.
Partners
