The project aimed to develop high-quality, evidence-informed outputs that offer great value for money and can be transferred to other countries and educational contexts, given the global nature of the issues we addressed. For the project target groups, we sought to address their needs as follows: 1) for youth workers, youth health professionals and those working directly with young people, they will improve their competences in coaching and training delivery, gaining a broader understanding of relevant practices in other countries. Empowering and reinforcing youth workers’ capacity on mental health through social action will allow them to provide more quality, creative and innovative support to young people, especially to those who are marginalised. 2) for our youth target groups, they will enhance their life skills and employability prospects through the learned experience of using the new toolkit and compendium of digital learning resources. Especially those who are marginalised, they are better equipped with the knowledge and the skills required for sharing their opinion concerning their own mental health, defining and expressing their goals and ambitions and actively engaging in their local communities.
According to various EU, UNICEF and OECD reports, most mental health issues, disorders and illnesses emerge during the adolescent and formative years. These years are crucial for young people who need to cultivate habits, routines, and behaviours in support of positive mental health. Mental health issues affecting young people are more prevalent in today's society as triggers like FOMO, social anxiety, social media validation, virtual identities, climate anxiety, are now commonplace in our vocabulary when describing youth mental health. These issues, in addition to more established illnesses like depression, anxiety, schizophrenia etc. all create serious and mounting mental health concerns that affect young people today. In implementing this project we addressed the following needs: 1) train youth workers to use social action as an approach to promote youth mental health and employability skills 2) support youth workers to have the confidence, capacity and competence to create safe space where youth needs can be openly identified and discussed 3) equip young people with the skills and tools to manage their mental health and act as peer leaders in their local communities addressing the growing mental health issues