MERSEY Care NHS Foundation Trust’s Mental Health Support teams in schools have released new interactive workbooks designed to help young people, parents and education staff learn new ways to improve their mental health and wellbeing.

Developed from resources originally produced by Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, they aim to provide young people with practical strategies and tools to better understand and cope with mental health and wellbeing.

The workbooks provide comprehensive guidance on maintaining good health, building positive self-esteem, and understanding anxiety and low mood. They explain how these issues can impact young people and highlight common symptoms to watch for that may signal they are struggling.

Harriet Clarke, Mersey Care's Operational Manager for Children and Young People’s Mental Health, said:- "We're committed to supporting the mental health of young people in Halton, Knowsley, St Helens and Warrington. These interactive workbooks are a valuable resource that empower young people, their carers and education staff to take proactive steps in managing their mental health and emotional wellbeing."

Engaging activities and exercises throughout the workbooks encourage students to reflect on their feelings and behaviours, and to actively participate in their mental health journey and sit alongside a selection of online webinars to find out more.

There are tools for students to track their daily activities and mood, helping them identify patterns and make positive changes. The workbook includes information on crisis support, confidential suicide prevention advice, and other essential support services for young people. It also provides links to useful websites and helplines for additional guidance.

Mersey Care has tested the workbooks with a group of young people at school and 1 of them (who wanted to remain anonymous) said:- “This is a great idea, it’s easy to understand and I can use it at home. It helped me realise that how I feel is normal and I can share it with my mum. It’s good that I can get help without having to be referred into a service and wait to see someone."

1 of the staff at the school said:- “We feel safe knowing that this has come from a trusted place (Mersey Care). We can share these with young people to work on independently, and then it’s really useful that they can come back to us and their parents to show us what they have been working on."

The workbooks are available for download on the Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust website and can be used by any school across the region. More information can be here.