Raise awareness about the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of youth in the partner countries and Europe •Promote the importance of mental health •Recognition and identification of mental health issues by youth workers and youth •Build resilient, adaptability skills in youth •Develop quality resources aiming at preventing mental health deterioration and providing coping strategies for overcome mental health difficulties •Improve the quality of youthwork in the participating countries
RAY focused on the preparation of young individuals, especially those with fewer opportunities, to move forward with confidence by providing them with essential well-being knowledge, resilience, and adaptability skills. The motivation to apply this project, were the sudden changes brought by the pandemic, that had disrupted peoples’ daily and social lives, work and study routines. These had a negative impact on the emotional and psychosocial well-being of individuals. Accumulating evidence on the impact of COVID-19 on youth, suggested detrimental psychological effects including stress, anxiety, fear, despair, worry, even depression. RAY was a transnational project with organizations in: Cyprus, Italy and Finland with a focus on capacity building on a European level and best practice exchange on how to cope with challenges. The key aspect of RAY was to enhance health promotion in the young and mitigating mental health problems by developing resilient and adaptability in the young. Resilient and adaptability skills will have a positive impact on mental health of the young. Mentally resilient and adaptable youth can enhance civic participation contributing to better pandemic recovery.