The Sport for Development Coalition is well-placed to support the aims of the Government's Levelling Up White Paper. Here Edge Hill University's Andy Smith, who is Chair of the Coalition's Sport, Mental Health & Wellbeing Working Group, explains how programmes like 'Tackling the Blues' can contribute:
"The Tackling the Blues project (delivered by Edge Hill University in partnership with Everton in the Community and Tate Liverpool) is an award-winning sport and arts-based education programme which closely aligns with Mission 8 of the Government's Levelling Up White Paper.
"Delivered in low-income, under-served communities experiencing significant inequalities in mental health and wellbeing, Tackling the Blues supports children and young people aged six to 16 who are experiencing, or are at risk of developing, mental health problems. We help to improve the mental health literacy of children and young people by providing opportunities for them to be physically active, by engaging them in mental health themed sport and arts activities, and by using trained peer mentors to address mental health and other adverse child experiences.
"Underpinned by our academic research, we use co-produced knowledge and insight from children and young people, and others in their local communities, to develop the evidence base on how community sport and arts-led projects can contribute to sustainable improvements in mental health and wellbeing. We are generating scalable and generalisable learning to advance the impact of policy and practice on the lives of all children and young people, but especially those whose lives are most impacted by significant social and health inequalities."
Read more about Tackling the Blues
