Sport  and Youth Mental Health Project

Sport and Youth Mental Health Project

The Active Essex Foundation are excited to be able to deliver a Sport and Youth Mental Health Project to support young people experiencing low levels of emotional wellbeing. Physical activity can enhance lives at any stage, but engaging with young people as they develop can ensure their mental health can be improved and maintained into adulthood.

£919,926
Total amount secured to deliver Sport and Youth Mental Health Project
£496,929
Grant from the National Lottery Community Fund
£75,000
From Active Essex Local Delivery Pilot (LDP)

The Team

Our Project Manager and Officer are passionate about physical activity and are striving to change the lives of young people across Essex

AEF Meet the team SPMHP Twitter Post 6

Approximately 36,000 young people, aged 5-18 years old, in Essex are experiencing low levels of emotional wellbeing, with 1 in 5 having a mental health problem. Half of all adult mental health problems start by the age of 14, with a direct link between poor mental health and physical health.

This innovative and important project will create a large and proactive mental health support offer for children and young people aged 5 – 18 years across Essex, using the medium of sport and physical activity as a tool for engagement to improve children and young people’s mental wellbeing and resilience.

This project is supporting many locally trusted community-based organisations across Essex, Southend and Thurrock, who are engaging with young people experiencing poor emotional wellbeing to ensure they are achieving the best possible outcomes, in settings that are viewed as safe spaces by young people. This includes a comprehensive training offer to ensure these community-based organisations feel equipped to support the growing needs of young people with low levels of mental health.

Our long-term aim is to prevent children and young people from getting to the stage where they need to access prolonged clinical treatment for their mental health, as well as collaborating with the mental health services across Essex to support the growing demand on these services, and working as a system to ensure the mental health support of children and young people are being met.


6 month Lottery Report 2024

Sport and Youth Mental Health Delivery Funding

Delivered by: Active Essex Foundation
Available funding: £5,000-10,000
Apply by: 31st March 2025

We are looking to expand our delivery for the Essex Sport and Youth Mental Health Project and to work with other local community-based organisations who are using/want to use sport, physical activity, or movement-based approaches, to help support young people experiencing low levels of emotional wellbeing.

Grants are available to support the further delivery of this project across Essex, including Southend and Thurrock. You can find details regarding funding criteria and application form below.

We strongly advise contacting our Project Officer, Sian Cleary, at [email protected] to find out more information about this funding opportunity and to discuss your project proposal before applying.