Children’s Mental Health Week | Lighthouse Project Update

As Children’s Mental Health Week draws to a close, we celebrate our success in co-developing a new mental health and wellbeing service, in partnership with Queen Victoria School.

The Lighthouse Project was co-developed having listened to the voice of pupils, teachers, and wider staff; many of whom expressed a real need to put specific mental health and wellbeing support in place within the school.

Having clearly understood what was needed, we secured generous funding from ABF; The Soldiers Charity to make things happen, and our service launched in August last year.

Six months on, we caught up with Christina MacDonald, who is Forces Children Scotland’s Wellbeing Worker within the school to find out how she feels things are going.

“The Lighthouse Project provides a welcoming, calm, and safe space for pupils at Queen Victoria School, who come to speak about some of challenges they have been facing when it comes to mental health and wellbeing.

“We offer tailored one-to-one sessions, drop-in appointments, and peer group support meetings. The pupils have benefitted significantly, which is evident from their feedback as well as from the school staff and parents.

“Pupils have improved sleep patterns as well as their ability to handle challenges and stress of exams, to cope with peer conflict and much more. Better still, they feel listened to, and have much greater awareness of how to look after their mental health and wellbeing.

“It has been exciting getting things off the ground. Some of our future plans for the Lighthouse include increasing our number of peer groups, and providing support for parents and wider staff.

“All of these, and any other potential development will be informed and led by pupil feedback as supporting them is at the heart of everything we do at Forces Children Scotland.”

Find out more by visiting our Lighthouse Project Project Page.