Colleges Scotland has welcomed the continuation of funding for an important part of the package of support available to students to support their mental health while at college.
 
A record number of colleges, universities, and student associations have signed up to support Think Positive, a student mental health project from NUS Scotland, by taking part in their Student Mental Health Agreement (SMHA) project.
 
The SMHA project is key commitment in the Scottish Government’s Student Mental Health Action Plan, which was published earlier this year. Now 32 out of 35 of all of Scotland’s colleges and universities have signed up to develop a Student Mental Health Agreement.
 
To establish a Student Mental Health Agreement, colleges and universities work in partnership with students’ associations to develop, promote and evaluate the mental health support they offer. The project enables institutions to bring all their mental health and well-being activities into one clear document and helps to highlight what is working well as well as areas for development. 
 
Central to the SMHA project are the values of co-production and collaboration with students. Funded by the Scottish Government, Think Positive can provide a range of free tools and resources to support institutions and students’ associations throughout their journey.  
 
Tom Hall, Senior Policy Officer at Colleges Scotland, said: “Colleges warmly welcome the opportunity to develop Student Mental Health Agreements which are a collaboration between student associations and each organisation. 

“College leaders are acutely aware of the demand for mental health support from students, and unfortunately funding has ceased for many of the services like counselling which had been in place. The Agreements should establish in a collaborative way what colleges can deliver and importantly hear from students in the process. 

“Think Positive is a valued part of the response to helping students with mental health and we’re pleased to see the funding in place for this project.”