About the project

The Office for Students (OfS) issued a Mental Health Challenge Competition in 2019 focussing on student mental health in Higher Education Institutions. The University of Liverpool was successful in securing £770K funding for two new projects; one as the leading partner on a Liverpool project and the other as a regional hub within a national collaborative project with other institutions.

Working with our partners: Liverpool John Moores University, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, Brownlow Health, The Innovation Agency and the Guild of Students, the aim of the project(s) is to improve student pathways into NHS mental health services and developing new services to support student mental health.

Over these pages you can read more detail about the project itself and about the new services, such as U-COPE, a clinical intervention aimed to support students who self-harm or have thoughts of self-harm, and opportunities for you to get involved and influence the next stages of the project.

Introduction to the agencies

• University of Liverpool: Lead University, and fund holder, for the OfS Challenge Competition project and co-host of new mental health services designed for students.
• Liverpool John Moores University: Partner higher education institute and co-host of new mental health services designed for students.
• The Innovation Agency: The Academic Health Science Network for the North West Coast, one of England’s 15 AHSNs and part of the AHSN Network which collectively acts as the innovation arm of the NHS. 
• Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust: Offering specialist inpatient and community services that support mental health, learning disabilities, addictions, brain injuries and physical health.
• Brownlow Health: An NHS GP practice with three branches in central Liverpool, rated ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission.

What will the project deliver?

• Partnership working between universities and local NHS services
• Final report to share impact of the different regional partnerships
• Evidence-based evaluation framework

Yvonne Turnbull
Director of Student Advice and Wellbeing Services at Liverpool John Moores University:

“It is fantastic news that we have been successful in our bid for funding to enhance mental health provision for students in our city. It is absolutely vital that the appropriate referral routes are in place for students to access timely and effective NHS support in Liverpool when they need it most. This project is part of LJMU’s commitment to supporting our students with their health and wellbeing."

Dr Paula Harrison Woods
Director of Student Administration and Support, University of Liverpool:

"We are absolutely delighted that our bid has been successful. This project gives us a great opportunity to further develop mental health provision for students across Liverpool and to ensure that the NHS and universities learn from each other to deliver the best possible services for students. We are looking forward to working with our students on this exciting initiative."

Nicky Fearon
Head of Student Mental Health and Wellbeing, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust:

"This is a fantastic opportunity to work with our University colleagues and students to develop a detailed understanding of the issues impacting on student mental health and then importantly to trial a number of different tailored evidence based interventions and evaluate which ones have the most impact on students wellbeing and progression. These outcomes will help shape future mental health and university service developments."

Dr Liz Mear
Chief Executive of the Innovation Agency:

"It’s fantastic to be working in partnership to develop an integrated model of support for students. The strengthened collaborative working between the NHS and university sector will allow us to deliver services to meet the varying and escalating needs of students. We look forward to sharing the outcomes and lessons learned from our partnership to allow other areas of the country to do the same."       

If you would like further information on the project or have any questions please email StuMHFeedback@liverpool.ac.uk.

Thank you for your continued support of the project.

Keep up to date with the 'What's On' project.