Training

• Youth Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)

Youth Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) courses are for everyone who works with, lives with or supports young people aged eight to 18. They will teach you the skills and confidence to spot the signs of mental health issues in a young person, offer first aid and guide them towards the support they need. In doing so, you can speed up a young person’s recovery and stop a mental health issue from getting worse. 

The Council are delivering free courses for school staff. Please look out for emails from the public health team for upcoming courses

Opportunities / Upcoming Projects

• Kooth

Kooth is a free NHS and Local Authority-funded counselling service which provides free online mental health and wellbeing support to all young people (11-25 years old) in Waltham Forest. Young people can register anonymously and access online counselling 365 days of the year, digital magazines, wellbeing activities, and connect with other young people.  Professional counsellors are available for one-to-one chat sessions from 12pm until 10pm on weekdays and 6pm until 10pm on weekends.

• The School Mental Health Ambassador Project 

The School Mental Health Ambassador (SMHA) project will provide emotional support to secondary-aged young people to help them meet their recovery goals. Young people aged 18 to 25 years will support secondary school pupils to inspire hope and belief that recovery is possible, helping young people to feel more positively about their future. SMHAs will have peer support training and support from a suitable member of the CAMHS service.

• The Coping Through Football Project 

The Coping Through Football project is an initiative between NELFT and the charity London Playing Fields Foundation (LPFF). Young people aged 11 to 17 years experiencing emotional and mental health challenges are welcome to join. Open to all abilities and all genders.

For more information you can contact or share the following contact details with your pupils.

Email Sonia Smith

Or call 07538101450.

Awareness Days 

2022

• Mental Health Awareness Week - 9 May to 15 May 2022

Toolkits

• Mental Health Charter

Waltham Forest council and partners launched the Young People’s Mental Health Charter on 10 October 2019. The charter consists of twenty statements of intent, detailing ways in which different organisations and individuals can foster good mental health in young people.

• Place2Be Growing Together

Children’s Mental Health Week is run by children’s mental health charity Place2Be to focus on the importance of looking after our emotional wellbeing from an early age.

This year’s theme is Growing Together.

Growing Together is about growing emotionally and finding ways to help each other grow. 

The school environment has a significant impact on a young person’s emotional welfare. For children’s well-being to thrive during school hours, teachers need the confidence and knowledge to nurture young people’s development. Equally, teachers need to be supported with their own mental health.

• Anna Freud

Anna Freud is a world leading mental health charity for children and families. One of the initiatives led by this charity is Mentally Healthy Schools. This project brings together quality-assured mental health resources, information and advice for schools and further education settings.