The University of Sheffield has been awarded the University Mental Health Charter Award from Student Minds – the UK’s student mental health charity.
The University Mental Health Charter was created by Student Minds in partnership with leading higher education bodies and thousands of staff and students. The Charter Award recognises universities that promote good mental health and demonstrate excellent practice.
In awarding the University of Sheffield with University Mental Health Charter Award, Student Minds highlighted several areas of good practice, including:
- The University Health Service – an NHS GP service embedded in the University of Sheffield and offering student health services for all University students based in Sheffield.
- The University’s Disability and Dyslexia Support Service – including a disability transition officer, who works to support student transitions into the University
- The University’s Residence Life programme for students who stay in University accommodation. Residence Life offers hundreds of activities as well as access to mentors for students.
- The University’s Belief, No Belief and Religious Life Centre which works with local faith communities and offers a number of groups that touch on elements of mental health and wellbeing
- The University’s Campus Masterplan which has increased access to green spaces across the campus as well as improving opportunities for walking and cycling.
Speaking about the award, Professor Gill Valentine, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Sheffield said:
“The University of Sheffield is committed to ensuring colleagues and students can thrive and flourish at Sheffield. Achieving the Charter Award demonstrates our University’s commitment to and investment in high-quality mental health support for both students and staff.”
“Achieving this award also recognises our commitment to continuous improvement in the area of mental health and wellbeing, and our dedication to its ongoing development. Our University Mental Health Strategy utilises the Charter framework and its principles to adopt a whole-university approach to mental health and wellbeing. The framework, alongside the feedback from Student Minds, will continue to inform and feed into our work in the area.”
The University of Sheffield is now one of only seven UK universities to have been recognised with the Charter Award.
