Student Minds: empowering students to support each other

Thanks to players of The Health Lottery, £15,000 has been awarded by The Health Lottery Foundation to fund a pilot programme for student leaders from racialised communities. The aim: to address health inequalities on campus and improve student wellbeing.

Tackling student mental health inequalities head-on

Kate Mitchell, Fundraising & Development Manager at Student Minds, said:

“We improve university communities and challenge the higher education sector, health sector, and government to make student mental health a priority. We empower students to make their own mental health toolkit to support themselves and their peers through university life and beyond. We’ve made great strides and we’re immensely proud of our achievements to date. However, there is still a lot to do. Over the next few years, we want to take students into decision-making spaces and empower them to create local and national change. We’re energised to get going with this work!”

The numbers are stark:

• 1 in 3 students report experiencing poor mental health
• 1 in 4 have a diagnosed mental health condition
• 25% don’t know where to get support
• Students from Black and Asian backgrounds are the least likely to seek help

Student Minds has worked since 2011 to change this. The charity supports 2.9 million students across the UK, combining advocacy with early intervention and crisis response.

£15K from Health Lottery players for a new student-led mental health pilot

The new pilot will work with three universities. Student Minds will train student union officers and peer leaders from racialised communities to:

• Build their own mental health toolkit
• Support their peers through shared experiences
• Hold institutions accountable for change

Kate added:

“Empowering students to advocate for themselves is necessary to create effective change. Students’ unions provide a structure for amplifying underrepresented voices, but the right training and support is needed. This project will fill that gap. We can’t wait to start working with the students and see the difference they’re able to make on their campuses.”

The Health Lottery Foundation backed this project because of its peer-led model, prevention-first approach, and focus on student voices.

Players of The Health Lottery have now raised over £136 million for good causes across Great Britain.