The SRC’s “Mind Your Mate” suicide prevention training programme has been awarded £21,000 from the Big Lottery Fund.

The funding will allow the programme to be extended to hundreds more students and staff. To date, Mind Your Mate has trained more than 200 staff and students at the University on how to pick up the “warning signs” shown by those at risk of self-harm. In its next phase, it is hoped to train up to 800 more people and extend the training into 2019/20.‌

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Lauren McDougall, Vice-President of the Students’ Representative Council, who has led the project and prepared the funding bid, said: “I am grateful to the Big Lottery Fund for recognising the damage that poor mental health is causing to young people and the valuable role that peer-led projects, such as ‘Mind Your Mate’, can play in addressing the problem.”

She described the project as one element in the crucial partnership, between students and the University, aimed at meeting the challenges of poor mental health head on.

David Duncan, the University’s Mental Health Champion, said: “I am delighted that the SRC has won a Big Lottery Fund grant to support the continuation of the excellent 'Mind Your Mate' training programme. This forms part of an integrated, inclusive approach to mental health and wellbeing which is jointly coordinated by the SRC and the University. We look forward to continuing to work with the SRC over the coming months.”

In September 2017, the University launched its Mental Health and Wellbeing Action Plan, recognising that a more coherent approach was needed to promote mental health and wellbeing, provide advice to staff and students on mental health issues, and support those who need assistance.

The “Mind Your Mate” training programme, led by the SRC and delivered by a group of trained students and University staff, is a three-hour interactive workshop covering basic mental health awareness and suicide prevention skills. Its overall aim is to reduce the barriers preventing people from accessing the help they need; provide participants with the confidence and skills to help someone in crisis; and reduce the stigma around discussing mental health and suicide. Workshops are free and open to all students and staff at the University of Glasgow.

First published: 16 April 2018

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