Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is set to become the 2nd region in the UK to benefit from England’s largest youth-centred wellbeing programme.
#BeeWell, which has been running in Greater Manchester since 2021, will be delivered across all 4 Local Authorities in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System area from Spring 2023. The programme will seek the views of the region’s young people in a bid to influence and improve the well-being services available to them, both locally and nationally.
Founded by the University of Manchester, National Lottery Community Fund, Anna Freud Centre and Gregson Family Foundation, the programme will survey young people across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight about a range of topics, including their emotions, relationships, aspirations, and health. The survey will be designed in collaboration with young people and delivered in Autumn 2023 to secondary-age pupils in mainstream schools, special schools, independent schools and alternative provision settings.
Anonymised results will then be shared privately with schools, and also publicly via an online neighbourhood dashboard, with a view to inspiring action across local government and civil society. Schools, local communities, voluntary sector organisations, and young people are amongst those groups that will be called on to act on the results and help to bring about positive change to young people’s wellbeing provision.
To date, over £4million has been raised by the programme’s founders to deliver #BeeWell in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight over 3 years. This includes £1.6million from the National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK. The programme offers a unique opportunity to accelerate local priorities surrounding young people’s wellbeing, including mental health, which is a key strand across all four Local Authorities’ individual strategies for children, young people and families.
Councillor Debbie Andre, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and Education at Isle of Wight Council, said:
“Recognising the mental health challenges of our young people and supporting them through a variety of measures at the earliest stages is a key priority for the Isle of Wight. I’m delighted we have been chosen along with our partners in Hampshire and with Southampton and Portsmouth to deliver the #BeeWell programme which places young people at the heart of decision-making.
“I’m encouraged to see the programme is inclusive, seeking views from secondary age students not only from mainstream settings, but also from special schools and alternative provisions. I look forward to engaging fully with the programme and with our partners for the benefit of our island’s young people to ensure that we can provide the services that they need in the years to come.”
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Now in its 3rd year, the #BeeWell programme has already heard from over 60,000 young people in Greater Manchester. To date, it has led partners such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, Arts Council England and local Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise organisations to leverage significant investment into improving wellbeing services and provisions for young people where they are needed most.
The founding national partners of #BeeWell are delighted to be working with all four Local Authorities across the region to bring a coherent approach to measuring and improving young people’s wellbeing.
