The Link Project is designed to maximise the impact of our Supporting Smiles service by providing free, relevant advice, support and training to adults who work with children and young people aged 0-18 across Norfolk and Waveney.
The adults we work with learn how to competently and confidently identify and recognise mild to moderate mental health problems in the children they work with. They are also taught how to best direct young people they are working with to find the support they need.
Why?
The ‘Mental Health Champions’ trained and developed by The Link Project learn how to build trusting relationships with the children they work with, and also learn how best to talk with these children about mental health. These open and trusting relationships are crucial in boosting children’s confidence in talking about their mental and emotional wellbeing, helping them to express their feelings in a healthy and productive manner.
The Link Project also links to the THRIVE framework, a nationally recognised best practice approach cited in the Government’s recent Green Paper that focuses on the needs of individual children and young people. The project allows teachers to help the children they work with to feel empowered and ‘thrive’ in the control of their own wellbeing.
How?
The Link Project achieves its aims by: