Peer to peer mental health and wellbeing programmes

In July 2018 Healthwatch Hillingdon was awarded £6,582 from Partners for Health; a joint funding stream from London Catalyst and the Hospital Saturday Fund. The money was to fund the delivery of the Healthwatch Hillingdon Peer to Peer Mental Health Support Programmes in several schools in the borough, building on the success of the Hillingdon Community Trust funded pilot programme delivered at Barnhill Community High School in 2017/18.

The data collected evidences the success of the Healthwatch Hillingdon Peer to Peer Mental Health and Wellbeing Programmes. Results show an overall positive impact on those who participated in the (Direct Beneficiaries) and others in the school communities (Indirect Beneficiaries

Healthwatch attained positive results against intended outcomes in every school and at Uxbridge College. Delivery of the programmes also attained some unexpected positive outcomes. The Senior Leadership Team at Harlington School gave Direct Beneficiaries £500 to fund their campaign and extend it beyond the completion of the Healthwatch Hillingdon project.

 Following completion of the programme, Oakwood School Direct Beneficiaries continued to deliver mental health themed assemblies and created a mental health awareness video. Students providing the Peer Support Service at Guru Nanak Sikh Academy identified and reported several safeguarding issues which may not have otherwise come to light. The school has also contacted Healthwatch to enquire about paying for us to deliver a second round of training because the Peer Support Service has been so successful

Direct Beneficiaries from Uxbridge College are independently running a further mental health campaign for the college in 2020 and have asked for Healthwatch input. Students from the schools who participated in the programmes have joined Young Healthwatch Hillingdon.