GCU Students’ Association secure National Lottery funding for a new mental health scheme
GCU Students’ Association have managed to secure a National Lottery funding award of £6,400 in order to support a new mental health scheme.
Previous Student President Susan Docherty and Student Adviser Kirsty McGregor made the application for the funding to help support a new strategic theme around mental health support. The funding, provided by the National Lottery Community Fund, will now be used to implement training workshops on suicide prevention and emotional resilience.
Now as the new Policy Lead for Wellbeing at GCU, VP SCEBE Olivia Hall is delighted that the funding application was successful. She said: “As the new policy lead for Wellbeing, I’m thrilled this funding was approved.
Our aim is to develop a student community at GCU with an increased knowledge of mental health warning signs, and the practical skills and confidence to support both themselves and their peers, encouraging earlier access to mental health and wellbeing support services.”
She added: “The funding aims to support student mental health by delivering two sets of training on suicide prevention and emotional resilience. We’re working with Two Roads Charity to deliver these and they’ll be available to students during the academic year 2021/22.”
Understanding the importance of student’s mental health, Olivia and the Students’ Association team wanted to ensure that students could be supported. She said: “Student mental health has been greatly impacted by the pandemic over the past year and so the need for additional wellbeing support is greater than ever.
With this funding, we hope students feel more supported in their mental health and that the GCU community becomes more knowledgeable on supporting their peers who may be struggling.”
Find out more about the mental health workshops on the GCU Students’ Association website
By Rachael McAlonan
Got a SCEBE or GSBS story? Email me at Rachael.McAlonan@gcu.ac.uk or connect with me on social media