The impact of the HeadStart programme in improving the mental and emotional wellbeing of children and young people in Wolverhampton was celebrated this week.
Launched thanks to nearly £10.7m in funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, HeadStart Wolverhampton used a ‘test and learn’ approach to support young people aged 10 to 16.
It worked with community providers, online services and schools to engage with youngsters and give them the skills they need to cope with the challenges of modern life.
Well over 13,000 young people in the city accessed HeadStart support, along with over 700 parents and guardians. A total of 75 community organisations were involved in the design and delivery of the programme.
We celebrated the achievements of HeadStart Wolverhampton yesterday which has delivered some groundbreaking work to help improve the mental and emotional wellbeing of children and young people in our city, and it is only right that we celebrate the achievements of everybody involved, and share the learning of the programme.
HeadStart Wolverhampton – Our Journey was the perfect way to do this, and to also find out more about how the programme’s legacy will help shape future services in the city.
It enabled us to deliver fresh, innovative approaches in addressing mental health issues for children, young people and families, and this flexibility allowed for initiatives to be developed, priorities to be adapted and budgets to be re-profiled to reflect local needs.
Thousands of children and young people in the city have benefitted from the activities, support and guidance provided through the HeadStart Wolverhampton programme and I would like to say a big thank you to all our providers, on behalf of HeadStart Wolverhampton, the council and the youngsters they have supported, for their hard work.
We believe that learning from the programme will allow everyone involved to continue HeadStart’s legacy now that the programme has ended, and to continue to support our city’s children young people and families to enjoy better mental and emotional wellbeing in the future.