Brighter Futures for Children’s Mental Health Support Team (MHST) has been shortlisted for the Medium Team of the Year at the LGC Awards 2024.
The trailblazing team proudly support children and young people aged 5 to 18 years, with emerging, mild to moderate mental health needs, across an impressive total of 36 infant, junior, primary, secondary and specialist settings and a college in Reading. This is 16 more than 18 months ago as the team and education settings recognised the need for further support.
Shortlisted alongside seven other teams from across the country, the MHST is made up of senior educational psychologists, education mental health practitioners, wellbeing outreach workers, a primary mental health worker and a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) specialist clinician, plus business and data administrators, triage coordinator and an assistant education mental health practitioner.
They will be presenting to a panel of judges in April before the awards ceremony in June.
Brian Grady, Director of Education for Reading, said: “The MHST fully deserves to be shortlisted for this national award and does an incredible job as part of a wider mental health offer in Reading.
“The work of the team to promote and support mental health in Reading schools has helped children and young people feel open to talk about mental health and to understand what support is available.
“Locating the MHST within BFfC, which delivers children’s services, including education on Reading Borough Council’s behalf, has helped to embed a consistent and inclusive whole school approach to understanding and responding to mental health as part of BFfC’s wider commitment to being trauma informed and thinking therapeutically.”