A programme of mental health lessons aimed at the equipping primary school children with practical coping strategies and building their self-esteem has been given a two-year boost.
Isle Listen, which works within all of the Isle of Man’s 32 state-funded primary schools, has been granted £74,664 grant spread across two years.
The organisation said the funding would the cost of delivering the lessons in 13 of those schools, helping to secure the programme for the next two academic years. cover the cost of delivering the lessons in about half of the
Wellbeing facilitator Holly Ramsay said students’ understanding of mental health was “growing year on year” and they were “eager” to learn more.
“The sessions we deliver help young people build self-esteem, encourage positive relationships and equip them with practical coping strategies,” Ms Ramsay said.
Isle Listen currently delivers its mental health programme to 95% of the island’s schools, including the University College Isle of Man.
The group also runs one-to-one therapeutic sessions for people up to the age of 18.
Education lead Becks Macnair said educational work in schools was “key”, and the size of the donation gave the organisation security as well as enabling it to “expand and invest further into our services”.
“While in the long term we want this preventative work to reduce the number of young people who need further support, we know that there are, unfortunately, always going to be some young people who need specialist services”, she added.
Manx Lottery Trust chairman Sarah Kelly said the grant had been awarded as supporting young people’s wellbeing was “vital for a resilient community”.