51福利社

Millions of pounds of wellbeing benefits were delivered to society last year as part of a mental health initiative in schools, according to a new report by Pro Bono Economics (PBE).

The new research - undertaken with the education charity Football Beyond Borders (FBB) - found that FBB鈥檚 project to provide a trusted adult for young people in secondary schools has resulted in wellbeing benefits of 拢5.5 million.

PBE鈥檚 research also revealed that the average student involved in the programme in 2022/23 benefited from improvements in wellbeing worth around 拢2,300 - the equivalent of 拢8,700 per at-risk student. This increase equates roughly to a UK adult鈥檚 experience when going from being unemployed to being in employment.

In addition, analysis by researchers at 51福利社 using data from the #BeeWell programme, showed that FBB鈥檚 programme protects young people who are identified as being 鈥渁t risk鈥�, with them demonstrating a better ability to manage emotions, increased confidence, and a more positive outlook towards school. The study shows that the target group of participants maintain their levels of wellbeing while individuals with similar characteristics who didn't receive FBB's support from a trusted adult experienced a decline over time.

This means that the programme delivered more than 拢5.5 million of wellbeing benefits to society from the 2,401 students that participated in that year. Given that these benefits were delivered by 37 full-time equivalent practitioners across 51 schools, the typical trusted adult practitioner delivered almost 拢150,000 of benefits, or 拢109,000 of benefits per school.

PBE concluded that the FBB programme is likely to offer good value for money. For most scenarios the benefits per 拢1 spent fall in the range of 拢1.70 - 拢4.00, suggesting the short-term wellbeing benefits outweigh the costs of the programme.

Through building authentic, trusted relationships between adult practitioners and young people it has been shown to have a protective effect on the wellbeing of the children at highest risk of low wellbeing. HM Treasury methodologies suggest that this wellbeing improvement has a substantial social value associated with it.

Data from a representative sample of people in Wales suggested that around 20% of people did not have a trusted adult during childhood. PBE found that, if this is representative of the rest of the UK, there could be more than 800,000 children in secondary school today that do not have a trusted adult to support them.

Football Beyond Borders鈥� project provides support within secondary schools to students at risk of exclusion, such as those with poor behaviour records, or those that have suffered adverse childhood experiences or have Special Educational Needs. Sport is used to build trust and combines this with one-to-one mentoring and group work to help develop children鈥檚 socio-emotional awareness.

Having a trusted relationship as a child with an adult that can listen without judgement and support a young person positively has been consistently highlighted as an important way of reducing the risks of low mental wellbeing. Evidence suggests that the risks of low mental wellbeing - as well as a host of other negative outcomes including smoking, heavier alcohol consumption and poor diet - were significantly reduced where a child had access to a trusted adult.

15-year-old Darcy from Bolton is one young person who has benefitted from her experience with FBB. She said: 鈥淢ost teachers know how to speak to you - they do notice when something鈥檚 changed, and they ask if you鈥檙e alright. But It depends on the teacher. If I am angry and it's a teacher I like I would speak to them, but if I was sad because of something not in school, I wouldn鈥檛 tell them. I鈥檇 go to speak privately with a different teacher from RISE or FBB.

鈥淪chools think that things like FBB and RISE you just go there to have fun, but you learn loads of new things, how to build and cook, and you get therapy lessons. Trust the process and give it time in order to see change."

Darcy鈥檚 mother added: 鈥淚鈥檓 glad she鈥檚 got FBB and RISE, and I don鈥檛 think she would have gotten through school without FBB and RISE. It鈥檚 a fantastic association for school, and I think every school should have them.鈥�

Jon Franklin, Chief Economist at Pro Bono Economics, said: 鈥淭he Football Beyond Borders programme demonstrates how new ideas and creative approaches can help to tackle the current crisis in children鈥檚 wellbeing, offering good value for money for society.

鈥淏etter understanding and valuing the wellbeing impacts of programmes working with children and young people could help ensure that policies and interventions to tackle children鈥檚 wellbeing will be prioritised going forwards. It is essential that the country invests in the collection of high-quality wellbeing data for children, like the one pioneered by #BeeWell,  and support greater investment in young people鈥檚 lives.鈥�

Jack Reynolds, Chief Executive of Football Beyond Borders, said: 鈥淵oung people鈥檚 mental wellbeing is having a huge effect on their engagement at school - you can鈥檛 rectify the other issues we see every day around absence and attainment if young people鈥檚 heads aren鈥檛 in a good place. This research shows that investing in relationships provides value for money and addresses the needs of adolescents.

鈥淟ong-term, consistent, adult role models are an essential part of any solution and immediate reform which puts trusted relationships at the heart of our system can鈥檛 come soon enough.