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UNIHEADS Mental Health & Well-being Employer Skills Academy
The UNIHEADS Mental Health & Wellbeing Employer Skills Academy was active from September 2020-July 2022. UNIHEADS supported us in championing the mental health of students across all campuses and supported the development of our UNIHEADS Mental Health and Wellbeing Ambassador Programme. This academy allowed us to support students who may have been suffering from Mental Health, especially with the effects of the global pandemic. It offered opportunities for all students to encourage positive Mental Health and Wellbeing, taking part in events, fundraising and more.
The UNIHEADS Mental Health and Wellbeing Academy allows all College students to access online mental health training, that has been used by over 100,000 students across the country. Students can access the free training through self-enrolment and it has unlimited uses, so they can receive support throughout the duration of their study programme.
The online platform is open to all of our students at The Sheffield College, and it offers valuable advice on where students can find help and support for themselves and their peers. College staff can also use the platform to support their knowledge in identifying students who may have mental health issues, where to signpost them and what support they can offer.
As part of our UNIHEADS Mental Health and Wellbeing Academy, we have a team of UNIHEADS Ambassadors that promote positive mental health through various activities within the college. The ambassadors hold social events for our students on a monthly basis and have also taken part in fundraising projects, supporting local Mental Health charities.
Any student at the College can become a UNIHEADS Mental Health and Wellbeing ambassador, and should contact their Industry Placement Coach for more information.
The UNIHEADS Mental Health and Wellbeing Academy ran a creative writing competition before Christmas, challenging students to write short stories to help people who struggle to sleep. The winning story, 'Autumn's Day' was written by Charlotte Rooney, and will be recorded by a voice-over artist and made available on the Champion Health health and wellbeing online platform. Joe Pindar, Champion Health's Wellbeing Executive was the judge of the stories sent in by our students:
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"It was wonderful to run the Sleep Stories Competition at The Sheffield College. I want to personally thank everyone who took part. Every story was clearly created by a very talented writer, and it was great to read through them all. Everyone who took part should be very proud, and I hope they use those wonderful stories for something else.
Finally, a massive congratulations to Charlotte for her winning submission, Autumn's Day. It’s a fantastic story and I can’t wait for it to feature on Champion Health's platform!" |
As part of Time to Talk Day, UNIHEADS Ambassadors created some handy origami conversation starters, to share tips on how to start a chat about mental health and to get people talking. You can download a copy below:
Harry Bliss, Founder of Champion Health Ltd and Co-founder of Uniheads
UNIHEADS mission is to educate every student so that they know how to look after their mental health, feel safe to talk openly about it, have the knowledge of where to seek support, and the confidence to ask for it.
Their training has been developed with key stakeholder groups that include world-leading health academics, mental health professionals, students and university staff in order to deliver an engaging and preventative educational tool that rapidly extends the reach and influence that institutions have when strategically integrating whole university mental health provision.
UNIHEADS e-learning platforms are built bespoke to each institution to ensure their partners have the most powerful and accessible resource available to reach their entire audience. In contrast to existing methods, their preventative training educates students and their immediate support networks on campus.
Using the secure e-learning platform, educates every student on how to maintain their mental health, cope with everyday life and crucially, how to look out for their peers. In addition, we assist the university staff member to develop their understanding of student mental health and how they can effectively support their students in times of need.
I am excited to see the new skills that I can learn in this role at College. Meeting new people and working together to educate people on mental health is vital to having a positive outlook both in and out of College.
Faith Hardy
UNIHEADS Student Ambassador
