HeadStart is a five-year, £58.7 million programme set up by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK, which aims to improve the mental wellbeing of 10 to 16 year olds and prevent serious mental health issues before they develop.
Six HeadStart partnerships based in Blackpool, Cornwall, Hull, Kent, Newham and Wolverhampton are piloting new test-and-learn approaches to providing support when and where it is needed, focusing on developing young people’s emotional resilience from an early age.
To make sure support works, the HeadStart partnerships involve young people in the co-design, commissioning, delivery and evaluation of services.
Our role
NCB is supporting the next phase of HeadStart by:
- Helping the partnerships to deliver better outcomes for young people.
- Ensuring the work of the HeadStart partnerships is sustainable and leaves a lasting legacy.
- Facilitating networking and learning across the partnerships.
NCB will work with the partnerships to understand their needs in relation to sustainability and legacy planning. Using this knowledge we will design and deliver bespoke training, as well as support partnerships to share their learning widely and provide opportunities for peer learning.
The result?
HeadStart is being evaluated throughout the programme by a range of partners, NCB will use our networks to share this learning.