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UWE Bristol hosts ministerial summit to prioritise student welfare
UWE Bristol hosted a ministerial summit to discuss the launch of a new national mental health charter, in a bid to make the mental welfare of students a strategic priority.
Organised by the Department for Education and chaired by universities minister Sam Gyimah and UWE vice-chancellor Steve West, the round table discussion brought together universities, health charities, students, national bodies and city leaders.
The charter has been created by leading charities and higher education bodies, and will outline criteria that universities need to meet.
is needed now More than ever
UWE launched its own Mental Wealth First pledge in April, a pioneering new approach that is designed to create “a step change” and “unlock thinking” within the university sector.
West, UWE’s vice-chancellor and chair of Universities UK’s working group on Mental Health in Higher Education, strongly believes in the importance of putting mental health first.
He told Bristol24/7: “It gives us a framework that we can start to engage with, to test ourselves against what is known as best practice, and importantly it helps us continue to improve over time.”
The summit took place at the Bristol Business School on UWE’s Frenchay Campus
Gyimah said: “We want mental health support for students to be a top priority for the leadership of all our universities. Progress can only be achieved with the support of the leadership of our autonomous universities – I expect them to get behind this important agenda as we otherwise risk failing an entire generation of students.
“This is not a problem that can be solved overnight, but we need to do a better job of supporting students than is happening at the moment.”
Student Minds, the UK’s student mental health charity, will lead a partnership of organisations in the development of the charter. Partners will include the UPP Foundation, Office for Students, National Union of Students and Universities UK.
The charter programme will build on recent guidance, including the University UK’s #StepChangeframework, encouraging leaders to take a whole-university approach in improving mental health services.
Currently, UWE’s Wellbeing Service offers counselling and mental health support to all its students, and provides mentoring for students on all campuses who receive Disabled Students Allowance.
The drop-in sessions on Frenchay Campus will continue into the new academic year, as well as Kooth for online counselling.
Following the launch of Mental Wealth First, additional plans are being put in place to increase the level of support that is available for university students.
Liz Kearton, deputy head of UWE’s Wellbeing Service, said that her team are currently recruiting some new members of staff – three new mental health practitioners and dedicated drugs worker part-funded by DHI, and have already appointed an emotional resilience coordinator.
The Wellbeing Service will also be linking up with local NHS services to see how it can improve links between services, and ensure that UWE students can access secondary mental health services as needed.
“This is something that has been traditionally quite difficult due to a number of issues, but the NHS and the universities are all keen to begin work to make these pathways smoother,” Kearton said.
“Like the rest of the university community we are anticipating further changes to come, and we are very pleased that the area of student mental health is receiving such full attention.”
Read more: UWE Bristol announce plans to put mental health first
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