Well? Issue 10: Spring/Summer 2007

Issue Issue 10: Spring/Summer 2007
Improving Mental Health and Well-being in Scotland
promoting resilience
why it matters
knowing me, knowing you
understanding young people’s mental health
MySpace or yours?
the rise of online social networking
don’t judge us
perceptions of youth
Emerging
Minds
children and young people’s
mental well-being

2 Well? Contents
4 Use your Heid
Also in this issue:
4
8
10
16
20
30
34
37
38
41
43
Issue 10: Spring/Summer 2007
Understanding
Young people explore their mental health
Review
Channel 4’s Skins
Promoting Resilience
Why it matters
Adult Perceptions
Don’t judge us
Relationships
Friends, family, school, life
Online Social Networks
MySpace or yours?
Profile
Paula Huddart
Building Strengths
Self-harm in black and ethnic communities
What Else?
News and Information
Contact Us
Anne Clarke
Testimonial
With special thanks to all the young
people who contributed to this issue:
Martin Aitken
Claire Chue Hong
Lindsay Clarke
Dionne
Lauren East
Jodi McCoy
Daniel Robertson
Designed and produced by RR DONNELLEY B50981
Editor: Sally Masterson
Produced by the Scottish Executive
8 Skins Review
10
Promoting Resilience
20
Visible Fiction
16 26
Adult Perceptions
The Place2Be

welcome to well?
By popular demand the theme for this issue
of Well? is children and young people’s
mental well-being. It’s a bumper issue and,
by working with a range of young people
and agencies, we’ve aimed to highlight a
whole host of work already going on in
Scotland, and to inspire future work to help
make a positive difference to the lives of
young people.
Major themes emerge, especially the
importance young people give to how
they think, feel and relate to the world.
Emotional well-being, confidence, optimism
and hope for the future are all important,
together with being resilient and having the
skills to cope with what life (and adults!)
throws at them.
As a parent, I’m always struck by the
fundamental importance of the early stages
in a child’s life. Alan Sinclair’s article
(page 22) really captures this and
underlines that if we invest our time and
resources in good parenting during early
childhood we will all reap positive benefits.
Well? invited Martin Aitken, who was
involved in the In Ma Heid conference
and developing Positive Twist, the
online mental well-being forum, to
introduce the magazine from a young
person’s perspective.
It is my privilege to welcome you to the
children and young people’s edition of
Well? magazine. Naturally, many young
people are at a delicate stage of life where
they may be more prone to mental health
problems. In this issue we hope to offer
advice to young people across the country
about what to do to “keep their head
happy”, as well as letting adults know our
views on mental well-being.
Earlier in my life, I never gave mental health
a second thought. I didn’t have a mental
health problem, and I never thought it was
an issue I should be concerned about. It
became a much more important issue in
We also debate whether the popular trend
in online social networking has a positive or
negative influence on young people and
explore work in Scotland to create positive
online social networks for and by young
people.
We simply don’t have the space to include
everything you have suggested, but please
don’t stop sending us your ideas and
examples of work. It’s you that make the
difference – your energy, passion, ideas
and commitment are what help make all
our lives better.
Gregor Henderson
Director
National Programme for Improving
Mental Health and Well-being
well@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
www.wellscotland.info
my life after sitting on the steering-group
for a conference called ‘In Ma Heid‘, which
was organised and aimed at young people,
focusing on everyday issues which affect
them. Being involved in this conference has
opened up many doors for me, and has
allowed me to get involved in many other
projects, both local and national. I’ve helped
make films to promote positive mental
health and created a Bebo mental
well-being account, ‘Positive Twist’ to try
and target young people in new ways. It
has also allowed me an insight into how far
we have come in tackling the stigma of
mental ill health, but also how far we still
have to go. This issue of Well? is certainly
a step in the right direction.
Martin Aitken
Like to receive regular email bulletins on mental health news and
events? Sign up for WellScotland e-bulletins by going to
www.wellscotland.info and clicking on the e-bulletin button.
Well? Welcome 3
The Scottish Executive’s National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Well-being has the
following vision: to help improve the mental health of everyone in Scotland and to improve the quality of
life, well-being and social inclusion of people who experience mental illness or mental health problems.
Both parts of this vision are fundamentally linked and achieving them requires understanding, commitment
and action from everyone in Scotland.

4 Well? Understanding
Use Your Heid
Over 90 young people from across Scotland attended
In Ma Heid, Oot Ma Heid, a one-day conference on mental
health supported by Penumbra and HeadsUpScotland.
Organised by young people for young
people, the conference aims were
twofold: to encourage young people to
talk about everyday things that affect
their mental health, and to feed
information and ideas into Inspire,
Include Improve, HeadsUpScotland’s
annual conference which showcased
mental health work for children and
young people in Scotland.
An In Ma Heid (IMH) steering group of
young people aged 16–25 was given
complete creative control of the event
which included creative workshops,
drama and song-writing, information
stands and a Big Brother-style Diary
Room where young people could give
their thoughts and opinions full vent.
Two weeks later the steering group
presented a summary of the IMH
findings to the Inspire, Include, Improve
conference. These are being used to
inform future mental health work with
children and young people in Scotland.

Here are some comments from
members of the In Ma Heid
steering group:
“Helping to organise IMH was possibly
the most fun I have ever had in my life.
Allowing young people like me to have
a real input into planning and organising
a project like this helps us develop
some of the vital skills which
professionals are trying to get us to
improve, like getting us involved, being
active, contributing our ideas, working
as a team, promoting resilience and
forming a wide experience of people
and situations to help us in later life.
“I knew mental ill health affected a lot
of people of all ages, but I had never
really thought about mental ill health or
mental well-being, because I thought it
didn’t affect me. In Ma Heid has
sparked a definite interest in looking
after my own mental well-being, and
has subsequently got me involved in
other projects. I now have a seat on my
school’s health promoting school
committee which covers physical
fitness, mental well-being and healthy
eating.”
Martin Aitken, age 16
“To start with, the work was very
daunting as I was thrown in at the deep
end, but as I settled in I began to really
enjoy organising the conference and
being in touch with so many people.
One thing I find very difficult is making
decisions – even very simple ones –
but I was made to make decisions
every day and that was beneficial to
me.
“At the conference I managed to
speak in front of 150 people and
also give a workshop on my
own, something I feel very
pleased about.
“I’ve done several talks and workshops
during my placement and it’s been
great for improving my confidence and
public speaking skills.
“I struggled to cope with a paid job
where, although I was part of a team, I
had to work on my own most of the
time. But with this volunteering
placement I knew I had a lot of support
and I’ve gradually built up confidence in
my own abilities and can work more on
my own. I’ve also been around people
who value me and don’t judge me.
“My next goal is to go back to university
to study for a Post Graduate in
Community Education. The placement
with IMH has given me the confidence
to help achieve that goal.”
Claire Chue Hong, age 25
Penumbra is a leading Scottish
voluntary organisation working in the
field of mental health.
T: 0131 475 2380
www.penumbra.org.uk
HeadsUpScotland is the National
Project for Children and Young People’s
Mental Health.
T: 0131 555 8430
www.headsupscotland.co.uk
Well? Understanding 5
ACCENTUATE
THE POSITIVE
Since it was launched in 2002, ‘see
me’ has been researching people’s
attitudes and experiences of mental
health with the aim of challenging
stigma and discrimination around
mental ill-health in Scotland. ‘see me’
director Linda Dunion comments on
young people’s understanding of
mental well-being:
“One of the challenges of addressing young
people’s attitudes towards mental health
and well-being is the word ‘mental’. It’s a
compliment and it’s an insult. It’s definitely
associated with mental ill-health rather
than well-being. It need not be a barrier,
though. During extensive consultations
young people told ‘see me’ that they react
less to labels and more to how other
people behave.
“We found that most young people know
very little about what is and is not a mental
health problem and there’s a lot of
confusion with learning disability. The vast
majority get their information from the
media so it’s no surprise that many – quite
wrongly – link mental ill-health to violent
behaviour and being locked up in an
institution. Little wonder that young people
can be reluctant to seek help.
“Encouragingly, young people do want to
know the facts and agree that treating
people differently because you do not
understand their behaviour is wrong. Most
(especially girls) are happy to talk about
issues related to well-being.
“Finding ways of building on the positive,
while tackling the negatives, will be key to
equipping the next generation of adults
with the knowledge, skills and outlook they
need to achieve their well-being potential.”

6 Well? Understanding
Inspire,
Include,
Improve…

Entitled Inspire, Include, Improve, the
conference did just these things. It:
inspired
people who are working with children
and young people about how exciting
work is at present for the mental
health agenda in Scotland today.
included
all parts of the workforce; and it
helped the workforce think about how
they could…
improve
practice by hearing about new
resources, projects and activities.
A group of young people who
attended the In Ma Heid, Oot Ma
Head conference previously were also
invited to present their ideas and
opinions on mental health and
well-being. We’ve transcribed some of
the young people’s comments from
the IMH Diary Room which were
presented on the day:
What is mental health?
Mental health to me is how you
feel inside yourself, like how you work
your life, how you deal with different
things, if you’re being bullied or if
you’re depressed, how you cope with
these different things.
Mental health is just like your
well-being, how you feel, how things
happen, just feeling good about
yourself…or bad…yeah, or bad.
What stresses you?
‘Cos people are growing up a lot
faster you get treated more like adults
which is a good thing, but in a
number of ways it can be bad
because people expect you to deal
with a lot of stuff cos people are
talking to you like adults. Like young
people moving out of home when
they’ve just turned 16 and, in fact, are
still kids but expected to deal with a
lot of things that adults would find
hard.
Schools and exams, now today a
lot of young people feel there’s a
lot of pressure on them to do well
and everyone has to go to university
and has to succeed.
What do you want?
I think we need to communicate
more, talk more. Need more
understanding. Whether it’s teachers,
support workers, social workers or
whoever, we need more relations
between adults and young people.
Young people need to learn how to
say what they want, and everyone
else needs to take that on board…
you can’t blame adults all the time.
Make young people look up to you
and respect you more. Be kinda like a
role model to them. They’ll look up to
you more and give you more respect.
Well? Understanding 7
HeadsUpScotland’s second annual conference aimed to
showcase some of the work underway since Children and
Young People’s Mental Health: a framework for
promotion, prevention and care was launched in 2005.
Here’s
what’s
In Ma
Heid:
In Ma Heid, Oot Ma Heid –
how did the name come
about?
It was devised by the young
people on the steering group who
wanted to describe how things
which happen around them can
affect how they feel inside.
In Ma Heid had four key
messages:
To young people at the event
• Everybody’s got a heid, we all
have mental health
• You can help yourself keep
your heid happy
To adults who work with
young people:
• Hear what we’re saying. We
know more about our heid than
you do
• Don’t judge me cos of what’s
in my heid

8 Well? Skins Review
In true Channel 4 form, the new
late-night drama Skins provoked
criticism from all quarters. The
series centres around the lives
of a group of teenagers living in
Bristol. We asked Anne Clarke
and her teenage daughter
Lindsay to review the series.
Anne’s
review:
To my surprise, I really enjoyed this
series. I had anticipated that it would be
like The OC (an American series about
life in Orange County) which I can’t bear
but, for me, Skins was much more
accessible and ‘real’ (and funny). I use
‘real’ because I find it hard to believe
that one group of young people had all
these things going on for them, but I am
sure that it reflected the lives of a range
of young people. I thought the

programme tackled some contemporary
issues with empathy, warmth and
humour. I was particularly struck by how
the young people were very accepting of
each other’s issues – whatever it was:
drugs, eating disorders, sexuality, racial
diversity – whatever – and yet still
supported each other and didn’t allow
these issues to get in the way. I was
encouraged by the way they helped
each other work out their relationship
issues too, and allowed each other the
space to make mistakes. I was
heartened by their honesty and the way
that being frank and challenging each
other didn’t mean the end of a
relationship (in the main).
‘I WAS
PARTICULARLY
STRUCK BY HOW THE
YOUNG PEOPLE
WERE VERY
ACCEPTING OF EACH
OTHER’S ISSUES’
For me, one of the most important
messages that came through was the
impact that laissez-faire parenting can
have: absent parents, distracted parents,
self-involved parents, rigid parents, naïve
parents – it seemed to me that of all the
groups represented by this programme,
parents came out badly. The sad thing is
that life – and their parental
circumstances – really are like that for
many young people.
For dramatic effect, it may have been an
exaggerated example of young people’s
lives, but I think it was a relatively
accurate representation of how life is for
many young people. Adults need to get
their heads round that, accept that these
issues are realities and work out ways of
better supporting young people, rather
than burying our heads in the sand.
Lindsay’s
review:
When I first saw the
adverts for “new drama Skins”, I got
excited for two reasons: a) finally! a teen
drama not set in some sun-soaked city
in America where everyone drives
Daddy’s SUV; and b) actual real
teenagers playing teenagers, not 26year-olds
pretending to be 16 (you really
can’t pull it off). I didn’t really know what
to expect – whether it was going to be
some pseudo-reality, over-exaggerated
portrait of how adults think teenagers
behave, or just another boring crack at a
teen drama.
Well? Skins Review 9
However, Skins turned out to be neither
of these things and after watching the
first episode I realised that it might
actually be worth following. I thought
the way they focused on a different
character each week was a really good
way to do it, as it portrayed the same
things from different characters’ points
of view and, as the series went on, you
found that you grew to know each
character a little more. I think the story
lines were accurate in that they drew
attention to some of the very real
problems teenagers find themselves
facing and portrayed them in a very
absorbing and interesting way, a way
that made you really think about what
was going to happen next and what
happened to land each character in each
situation.
‘DONOTWATCHIT
WITH YOUR
PARENTS!’
All in all, I thought Skins was very
interesting and dramatic, but funny at
the same time, drawing humour out of
the most unlikely situations. I would
recommend it to most teenagers –
however, I would say…DO NOT watch it
with your parents! I was in the room for
about two minutes when my parents
were watching it and my dad
immediately said, “Is that the kind of
thing you get up to?!” (Also not
recommended for over-anxious parents
or parents in denial).
Skins was recently screened on E4
and will be shown on Channel 4 in
June and July 2007.
www.e4.com/skins
The makers of Skins are looking for
feedback before they make the
second series.
Visit www.myspace.com/e4skins to
find out more.

10 Well? Promoting Resilience
Why resilience is
important

A person
who is
resilient
is likely to
• Recognise and manage their
own feelings and understand
the feelings of others
• Have a sense of
independence and self-worth
• Form and maintain positive,
mutually respectful
relationships with others
• Be able to solve problems
and make informed
decisions
• Have a sense of purpose
and goals for the future
Resilience Poster
Most teachers agree that posters are a good resource to help them to
explain complicated concepts like resilience to children and young
people. This poster, produced by the Scottish Health Promoting Schools
Unit, has been distributed to all schools in Scotland and describes the key
aims of the Promoting Resilience project. This work has been well
received by teachers and pupils in Scotland and has been recognised and
adopted by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education.
“Emphasising the rounded development
of young people in terms of their
academic, physical, social and emotional
development supports what schools are
trying to achieve through A Curriculum
for Excellence (see page 14). Short,
pointed and attractive materials such as
the poster on resilience from the SHPSU
help. This particular poster shows the
importance of the integrated nature of
developing young minds, and provides a
structure for children to help them think
through the issues for themselves.”
Frank Crawford
Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of
Education
Well? Promoting Resilience 11
Resilience is commonly
described as a person’s
capacity to cope with changes
and challenges and to ‘bounce
back’ during difficult times.
Children and young people who are
resilient are better equipped to resist
stressandadversity,tocopewith
change and uncertainty, and to recover
faster and more completely from
traumatic events or episodes.
However, research over the last 25
years has shown that today’s young
people are much less resilient than
previous generations. They also have
more emotional and behavioural
problems, and this is the case for
males and females, all social classes
and all family types.
Work is underway to reverse this trend
and the Scottish Health Promoting
Schools Unit (SHPSU) is leading a drive
to increase children and young people’s
resilience.
Here we showcase some of that work.

12 Well? Promoting Resilience
MOVING
HOUSE AND
SCHOOLS IS
NEVER EASY,
BUT LAUREN
EAST’S
EXPERIENCE
WAS CRUCIAL
TO HELP
SETTING UP
THE SCHEME
IN HER
SCHOOL.
Involving young people is a key factor
in the Promoting Resilience project.
Lauren East, an S5 pupil at Denny High
School moved from Hull to Denny two
years ago, a transition which she found
extremely traumatic. Lauren was
chosen to be on the interview panel,
along with Lee Miller of YoungMinds
and Graeme King, principal educational
psychologist for Falkirk Council, to
select the best person to manage the
Promoting Resilience project.
“When my dad told my brother and me
he’d got a job in Scotland and we were
moving there, we thought he was the
worst father that ever lived!” recalls
Lauren. ”Not only would we be moving
house, but moving schools and leaving
all our friends behind. I was dreading it.
On my first day at Denny High School I
was shaking and spent the first day in
a daze. Eventually some girls started
speaking to me and I began to make
friends.
“I was never a confident person, but I
feel much more confident now having
gone through that experience. In fact,
I’m really glad I have, as I now feel I’m
much better equipped to cope with
other transitions and can reassure other
people too.
“It was interesting being on the
Promoting Resilience interview panel.
Having been through that transition I
was able to ask some quite searching
questions. We all agreed that Fiona
[Ogg] was the best person for the job,
and know she will do some great work
on resilience in schools.”
Many other schools in Scotland are
actively involved in mental health
promotion as part of the Health
Promoting Schools initiative,
including:
• Craigie High School in Dundee (a
Silver Health Promoting School
Award Holder) runs peer mediation
and conflict programmes, trains S6
pupils as counsellors/supporters and
offers a chill-out programme for
pupils leading up to exam time.
• Millburn Academy in Inverness runs
AWARE, a project which involves
mental health training for all school
staff, staff health and well-being
events and mental health promotion
projects delivered by schools.
For more information on Health
Promoting Schools go to:
www.healthpromotingschools.co.uk

Promoting Resilience
in Schools
A pilot project to boost children’s
resilience has recently begun in Denny
High School and its eight feeder
schools in the Falkirk area. The two
year project is run by children’s mental
health charity, YoungMinds, working
in partnership with Falkirk Council.
“The key theme of the project is
‘transition’ and the ability to work
through life changes, especially the
transition from primary to secondary
school, or of moving school which often
triggers emotional problems in
children”, says Lee Miller YoungMinds’
training and consultancy officer. “The
BOOK
Can trauma be overcome by
resilience? Dr Alison Blair
reviews Talking Of Love On
the Edge of A Precipice by
Boris Cyrulnik (Allen Lane,
2007)
This powerful and engaging book
weaves stories of individuals with
different scientific research and theory
to provide the reader with a coherent
aim is to provide support to children,
their parents, school staff and whole
school settings to prevent problems
happening, as well as supporting
children who currently have
difficulties.”
The project is led by emotional
well-being specialist Fiona Ogg who
began work in March. The work will
follow P6 pupils in the Denny High
feeder schools through their final year
in primary school, and as they make
the transition into secondary school.
The work will take place with staff and
parents/carers, as well as the whole
and uplifting account of the effects of
trauma being overcome by resilience.
Cyrulnik states “Were it not for our
memories and our hopes we would be
living in a world in which there was no
reason”. He describes how hope can
live in the most terrible of
circumstances and by holding on to
humanity and retaining the capacity to
love, survivors can release the chains
that bind, allowing their trauma to
become a memory rather than a state
of being. He describes how trauma is
followed by a period of numbness
which at the time is protective to the
individual but which must recede to
allow life to have meaning and emotion
once more.
The emphasis throughout the book on
the role that society plays is
enlightening. He comments on the
paradox that as society increases in
wealth and organisation we are less
invested in our community and family
Well? Promoting Resilience 13
school system. The project will be
evaluated after two years when it is
hoped to be rolled out to other areas in
Scotland.
www.youngminds.org.uk
The Promoting Resilience project is
partly funded by HeadsUpScotland
and the Scottish Executive Education
Department. The Scottish Executive
has made a commitment to ensure that
all schools become health-promoting
schools by the end of 2007.
www.healthpromotingschools.co.uk
structures which make us all the more
vulnerable when things go wrong.
The most important message in this
book is that love sustains the will to
live and gives us the power to change
throughout our life span. Beyond
physical necessities for life, most of all
a child needs love, and if this love is
consistent and secure this will be with
the child no matter what else prevails.
The universal messages of this book
mean that it is not just for those who
work in, or are affected by mental
health issues. It is a book that requires
to be read more than once, and one
that you may wish to give to many
people for many different reasons.
Dr Alison Blair is a consultant
psychiatrist with Esteem Glasgow,
the service which supports young
people with psychosis.

14 Well? Promoting Resilience
CREATINGCONFIDENTKIDS…
The City of Edinburgh Council has secured a Big Lottery Fund grant to
promote the emotional health and well-being of children, young people and
the adults that work and care for them. The grant will be used to support
work already underway around Creating Confident Kids, the resource pack
which has been developed by, and for, primary school teachers to help
embed concepts of emotional literacy.
Councillor Andrew Burns, executive
member for children and families, The
City of Edinburgh Council, said: “This
grant is great news. It will enable us to
further develop and promote our
emotional well-being work including
personal and professional development
for staff, out-of-school hours activities
for children, personal development
work with parents/carers and
community-based and voluntary sector
projects. The grant will also be used to
comprehensively evaluate work, as
...AND CONFIDENT FUTURES
Around 200 undergraduate and 70
postgraduate students at Napier
University in Edinburgh are the first to
take part in the Confident Futures
initiative, a pilot project which aims to
develop self-belief and self-esteem in
graduates.
Developed in conjunction with the
Glasgow-based Centre for Confidence
and Well-Being, the initiative will help
students examine their personalities
and ways of thinking, to develop
positive attitudes and approaches to
well as hosting an annual emotional
well-being conference to share
achievements and promote the latest
research in this area.”
Topics that are likely to be covered
include attachment, resilience,
optimism, appreciative enquiry,
emotional literacy and brain
development.
Patricia Santelices
E: patricia.santelices@educ.edin.gov.uk
problems and increase belief in their
abilities.
“Confidence is seen as a by-product of
studying at university, rather than a
quality we should be teaching,” said
Professor Joan Stringer, principal and
vice-chancellor of Napier University.
“Confident Futures aims to change that
and to help improve the confidence of
society generally.”
www.news.napier.ac.uk
www.centreforconfidence.co.uk
A CURRICULUM
FOR EXCELLENCE
Scotland is currently pursuing its
biggest education reform programme
for a generation under the Scottish
Executive’s Ambitious, Excellent
Schools agenda (launched in
November 2004).
Central to this reform agenda is
A Curriculum for Excellence, a
programme of work which aims to
provide more professional freedom
for teachers, greater choice and
opportunities for pupils, and a single
coherent curriculum for all young
people from three to 18 to help them
maximise their potential.
Overall health and well-being is an
important focus within A Curriculum
for Excellence. The most important
goal of this part of the programme is
to support children and young
people in gaining the knowledge and
skills to help them live fulfilling and
healthy lives.
“The main purpose of education for
health and well-being is to enable
children and young people to
develop the knowledge and
understanding, skills, abilities and
attitudes necessary for their
physical, emotional and social
well-being now, and in their future
lives,” said a spokesperson for
A Curriculum for Excellence.
“This is not a nationally prescribed
curriculum, but rather a framework
of broad guidance within which
teachers will have flexibility to
structure activities to suit their
school’s core personal and social
education programmes.
The guidance will emphasise the
need to draw on appropriate
professional expertise, to involve
children in the programme planning
and to ensure plenty of parental
consultation when sensitive health
issues are addressed.”
www.acurriculumforexcellencescotland.gov.uk

MAKING THE
RIGHT CHOICES
Choices For Life goes from strength
to strength with a national roll-out
across Scotland
Choices For Life, the Strathclyde Police
initiative for teachers and pupils
established in 1999, has become so
popular that it is soon to be rolled out
nationally across Scotland.
So, what is Choices For Life? It’s a
series of shows aimed specifically at
P7 pupils (aged 10-11 years) that cover
the themes of drugs, alcohol, smoking,
physical and mental health education.
The aim is to encourage them to make
healthy lifestyle choices, at a period
when they will become more aware of,
and potentially be exposed to, these
issues. The events also focus on
helping them to resist negative peer
pressure at a time when they are
making the transition from primary to
secondary education. The emphasis is
on increasing knowledge and
understanding to enable children to
make their own informed decisions,
rather than feeling pressured or bullied
as to what they should think or do. In
other words they have choices –
Choices For Life.
Each performance consists of a twohour,
multi-media themed show,
presented by local radio DJs in a slick
and fast-moving format with messages
delivered by people the audience can
relate to in a manner they can enjoy.
Using drama, videos and a Family
Fortunes-style quiz, interspersed with
music from live up-and-coming bands,
many of the children will be improving
knowledge, raising their self-esteem
and learning decision-making skills
while having fun.
The events are organised by the
Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement
Agency in partnership with all eight
Scottish Police forces. Funding is
Well? Promoting Resilience 15
provided from the Scottish Executive
and other sponsors, including Glasgow
Communities Ltd. Children from all 32
local authorities will be represented.
This year the ‘Just Like Me’ campaign,
challenging stigma around mental ill
health, aimed at children and young
people will be featured at all the
shows. The current campaign features
Cloud Boy and Cloud Girl and their
experience of self-harm and bullying
and the way their peers react.
Twelve shows will take place in May
and June 2007 at six venues across
Scotland, from Orkney and the Western
Isles to Glasgow.
www.choicesforlife.com
www.justlikeme.org.uk
Scotland’s World Champion
snooker player Stephen Hendry has
pledged to support the Choices For
Life initiative

16 Well? Adult Perceptions
PLEASE DON’T JUDGE US
BY HOW WE’RE PORTRAYED
IN THE MEDIA…
The way young people are portrayed in the media
continues to be a point of contention for many
young people. Why do the media constantly link
ASBOs with ‘hoodies’? Should we be so quick to
judge young people by what they wear or how
they look? And how does this perception affect
how young people feel about their lives? Well?
asked a group of young people for their views.
What do you think of the media
portrayal of young people in the
media?
It’s mostly negative, which isn’t true of
all young people. The stereotypes aren’t
useful.
They always seem to focus on the bad
things that young people do. They never
seem to show any of the good things
that young people do.
I don't have a problem with how young
people are portrayed in the media. Most
media focus on the negative no matter
what the story is, as it makes 'better
news'. You never really read about how
someone had a pleasant day because
it’s not the culture. But with all negatives
you still hear about the extraordinary
young people who go out of their way to
save another, usually a stranger, and no
matter what age you are that still makes
someone feel good about humanity.
What effect does this have on young
people and how they feel?
It doesn’t help me to be misunderstood
among older people, and though I know
it isn’t all about getting at me – I
sometimes feel it is.
It doesn’t really bother me. I know what I
like and I don’t really care what the
media think.
What effect does this have on how
young people are thought of in the
community?
People are always going to have their
own opinions, usually based on personal
experience, not just what they hear, or
read of, in the media. I think most people
are aware that not all cases get reported
and, even if they read positive stuff, if
they’ve had a bad experience it will most
likely outweigh any chance of their
opinions changing.
People always seem to think that
teenagers are gunna shoplift and stuff. I
know loads of people who’ve been
followed around shops by security
guards cos they think they’re gunna nick
stuff. It’s annoying!!
What can be done to improve media
portrayals of young people?
Not to stereotype us into ‘hoodies’, and
maybe listen to some of the concerns
we have about community issues.
Nothing really. The media are just trying
to do their job. Newspapers put dramatic
articles in their papers to sell more.
They’re not gunna start only saying nice
things about everyone and never say bad
things about young people.

ASBOs or PoSBOs…?
Instead of receiving an Anti Social
Behaviour Order (ASBO), seven
young people in Yorkshire were
recently served with Positive-
Social Behaviour Orders (PoSBOs)
by Yorkshire Housing Group.
The PoSBOs were handed out to the
young people for making their local
communities brighter and better
places.
Bill Payne, chief executive of Yorkshire
Housing Group, said: “We’re sick and
tired of young people being used as a
political football. The vast majority of
teenagers are excellent role models in
our communities, so we have decided
to retaliate against the trouble-maker
stereotype by serving Yorkshire’s
‘magnificent seven’ with PoSBOs for
making people’s lives brighter and
happier.”
‘
Well? Adult Perceptions 17
Listen more to young people and don’t
just ignore them cos they are the ones
who can tell you what they like and what
they don’t like and how things should be.
People can learn a lot from them [young
people]. They are part of the solution
OR... BY THE WAY
WE LOOK
As part of the In Ma Heid conference (see
page 4), young people devised a Big Brother-style
diary room, where they could voice their thoughts
and opinions about mental health and well-being,
unhindered by outside influences.
When asked what they would most
like to happen to improve their mental
health and well-being, one of the
strongest messages from the Diary
Room was that teenagers wanted to
“be judged by their feelings, not their
looks”.
Here are some of their comments.
“Stop media portrayals of young people
in a bad light, cos we feel it’s really
negative and it should be stopped and
it should all be positive things, cos we
can’t all be labelled as bad or ASBO
teens or whatever, so it should stop.”
“Just basically understand us and don’t
just jump to the wrong conclusions.
Listen to what we’ve got to say before
you make any decisions. There are
neds out there but we’re not all
neds…take more time and don’t judge
people.”
‘
‘Look on positives, not
always negatives.
Young people have a
point of view…don’t
always judge a book by
its cover’
“I think people who are older than us
should have more respect for us. They
make a fool of us cos we’ve maybe not
got the best of clothes…or the
personality. Don’t judge a person by
their looks, judge them by their feelings
and personality, cos you never know
what you might say that’ll hurt them.”
“Listen more to young people and don’t
just ignore them cos they are the ones
who can tell you what they like and
what they don’t like and how things
should be. People can learn a lot from
them [young people]. They are part of
the solution.”

18 Well? Adult Perceptions
Welcome To My World
Dionne attended the In Ma Heid
conference because she wanted to
raise awareness of mental health
problems so that people can
understand why and how they
happen. Here is her story.
“When I was at school I felt I had no
friends to speak to, and no one noticed
anything was wrong. Two years ago I
was attacked, which brought back
feelings I had bottled up since childhood.
I felt everyone was going to hurt me and
I didn’t see the point in being alive. I just
wanted to be with my great-gran, who
was the only person who really loved
me, but had died six years earlier.
“Following a suicide attempt, I was
admitted to hospital and eventually told
a nurse and a psychiatrist what had
happened. I wish I’d been offered
counselling at this stage to help me deal
with everything. I only began to get
proper help when I was assigned a
social worker who was also a mental
health officer. She really helped me as
she was much more understanding than
the people I had previously dealt with.
“The most important thing to me about
In Ma Heid was the opportunity for
Dionne, 20, has had a very difficult childhood and was
bullied at school. She has attempted suicide several
times, most recently in August 2006. As part of her
recovery she is now training as a National Programme
Media Volunteer, so that she can give interviews to
journalists about her experience of mental ill-health and
the stigma associated with it.
young people to get their point of view
across. Lots of adults don’t think that
young people are affected by events that
take place at home. They refuse to
accept it, or choose to ignore it. But
negative events can affect young people
even more than adults. They certainly
did for me.
“It doesn’t help that the words ‘mental
health’ have such negative meanings –
that was one of the first things we
noticed when we asked the question
‘What does mental health mean to you?’
So we wrote a song, Welcome to My
World, to explain what it’s like having
mental health problems and how difficult
life can seem. The Diary Room was also
a good way of saying what we think
confidentially without feeling threatened
or judged.
“I feel that if I’d got help earlier then
things wouldn’t have got so bad for me.
I wish I’d asked for help earlier, from a
friend, teacher, anyone. I wish the school
had been better, and questioned what
was behind my behaviour. I would say
to people who are in my situation, don’t
suffer in silence. But I would also say to
others, don’t take appearances at face
value.”
Welcome to my world
Welcome to my fears
I’ve lived here for long enough
I’ve been here for years
People bring me joy
Yet they bring me tears
I can’t hack this pain no more
I’ve got to run from here
Geez your glasses cos I canny see
Is what I see what you’re actually
gonna be
Sometimes I look and it’s not what’s
supposed to be
Cos you sound well right, but you’re
acting mean.
Extract from Welcome to My
World, the song written by the
In Ma Heid song-writing
workshop team.

“Well-being” seems to be the concept
of the day. The recent Scottish
Executive consultation on the draft
Children’s Services Bill asked whether
“well-being” should replace “welfare”
as the central concept in the law. And
the UNICEF report that placed the UK
bottom of the league of “rich”
countries, used measures of
“well-being” as their standard.
Significantly, this included children and
young people’s perceptions of their
own well-being. It was sad to see the
UK faring so badly. While we may want
to dismiss the conclusions of the
report, it is significant that young
people themselves identify related
issues as priority areas for attention in
Scotland. My office has worked in
partnership with NHS Education
(Scotland) to recruit a Young Persons
Health Advisory Group. When the
eight-strong group met to identify their
priorities, mental health featured
prominently.
If we are to improve the mental health
of children and young people, we need
to take action to inspire a more positive
attitude. We need to give young people
hopes for a worthwhile future that will
make the most of their talents. And we
need to show them that we value
them, as citizens and as individuals.
This means we must stop portraying
them as the source of all evil in our
society, and temper the language of
the public threats of increasingly
draconian measures to bring them into
line. Better the carrot than the stick.
But the incentive does not need to be
financial or material. It can be about
ways to grow, achieve and earn
respect. And we must also invest in
making space for meaningful
relationships; between young people
themselves; between young people
and their parents; and between young
people and their communities. We
need to encourage “pro-social”
behaviour. We could start by making
sure that for every prohibition we
provide a positive alternative. If you
can’t “hang out” there, for example,
where can you “hang out”?
Well? Adult Perceptions 19
‘ If we are to improve
the mental health of
children and young
people, we need to
take action to inspire a
more positive attitude
POSITIVE ATTITUDES NEEDED
As Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People (SCCYP), Kathleen Marshall’s main
role is to promote and safeguard children and young people’s rights. Consultation with young
people and the issues facing them is crucial to this task. Here she tells Well? how mental
health has been identified as a priority.
‘
For those children and young people
who need some help even to get to
that starting point, we need better,
age-appropriate, mental health
services. One of the problems I face
when issues arise about the lack of
services for especially needy groups
such as asylum seekers, is that the
services they so desperately need are
in general short supply, which makes it
difficult to plead their case effectively.
Young people can be put off “mental
health” issues by the association with
“mental illness”. We need to get rid of
the stigma and promote positive
well-being at the same time as we put
in place the remedial services that so
many of our young people need.
Interact with SCCYP by sending in
poetry, stories and comments, take
part in polls, access resources,
games and download the young
people’s version of the SCCYP
annual report at
www.sccyp.org.uk

20 Well? Relationships
Visible Fiction
One cold Saturday morning, a group of six young
people met at the Boy’s Brigade building in Stirling
with a mission.
Their mission was to find a way
of creatively and collectively
representing the voice and
opinions of the young people
who had attended the
In Ma Heid, Oot Ma Heid (IMH)
conference, which had focused
on young people’s relationships
with their friends, family and
school.
The group was made up of young
people who had been on the IMH
steering group, together with members
of East Ayrshire Youth Theatre,
providing a good mix of conference and
drama experience. Visible Fictions, one
of Scotland’s leading theatre
companies, was to lead the production,
which would be presented at the
HeadsUpScotland conference Inspire,
Include, Improve in two weeks’ time.
Here, Brenda Murphy from Visible
Fictions describes how the production
took shape over the course of the
weekend:
“One of the main themes that had
come out of IMH was of young people
‘feeling one way and feeling they have
to act in another’.
“Following a warm-up exercise based
on truth and lies, we agreed that the
drama could be created from material
that is based on the group’s own
experience, that of others, a distortion
of the truth or pure imagination – but
that we didn’t have to identify what
came from where.
“IMH had produced lots of stories and
opinions so we had plenty of other
people’s truth to work with. But we
only had a couple of days to create the
piece and very little rehearsal time, so
we needed to create something simple
and effective.
“We decided on a form that would
show young people in situations where
they felt they had to behave in certain
ways, and pre-recorded monologues
would tell what was going on in their
heads. The contrast of seeing someone
performing minimal actions on stage,
but being led into the complexities of
their thoughts was very effective and
appealed to us. The only dialogue
would be the recorded monologues, so
that meant there were no lines to learn.
The group worked on an individual level
and in small groups to create material
but we all worked together to edit and
develop it. We worked carefully and
sensitively to ensure that everyone was
happy with any changes, aware that
some of the material might be based
on individuals’ personal stories.
“One member of the group asked to
develop a piece of work based on their
own experience. This was a difficult
decision for them, and they needed
reassurance, but it was something they

eally wanted to do. It was a real
indicator of the power of individual
self-expression that theatre can enable.
“Whilst being sensitive to individual
stories the group was also very aware of
the political voice they were exerting
through the creation of the final piece.
We chose and adapted four stories to
reflect the range of issues and concerns
that had come out of the IMH
conference.
“Following a short but hectic schedule of
rehearsing and recording, we finally felt
ready to present the performance. It
was so well received that we were then
asked to make it into a DVD which will
be used as a training resource.”
This project was developed with
funding from the Scottish Arts
Council’s ArtFull Programme.
www.visiblefictions.co.uk
Well? Relationships 21
REAL LIFE FICTION
“The production was
based on the fact that
although someone might
look normal on the
outside, nobody really
knows what they’re really
feeling or what’s going on
inside their head. It’s like
hiding behind a mask.
“But why do we hide? I think it’s
because we’re afraid of how we might
be perceived by our friends or parents.
How might they react if we tell them
what we’re really thinking? Will they
think we’re crazy? Will they
understand? We need to keep working
towards abolishing the stigma that’s
attached to a mental health problem
and this requires a change of attitude
and culture within young people. We
need to realise that everybody is
different, that people are not ‘freaks’ or
‘mental’, but normal in their own
unique way.
“I was portrayed in a home-based
situation, where my mum had a young
baby and was very stressed. I was
also under a lot of stress from the
bullies at my school and my mother
wouldn’t even listen to what I had to
say. A counsellor comes to visit and
Daniel Robertson,18, from
Shetland was involved in
developing the Visible
Fictions drama
the recorded monologue describes
what was really going through my
head when the counsellor is speaking
to my mum.
“It was a lot of fun developing the
production, but I also got a lot out of it.
It was an excellent way of looking
beneath the surface and understanding
what someone else is really
experiencing. It really matters what’s
on the inside.”
This an extract from Daniel’s
monologue:
Oh, and that’s right, mum… yeah, I left
home… but no, I didn’t leave home
voluntarily. I had to cos I was scared of
what you were going to do to me.
What was next, mum? What was next
in line?
Aye, mum…that’s right…you know all
my problems… you know all that goes
on my life. I’m bullied. I get called
names. And they hurt me. But you don’t
care about that. You think I’m crazy.
And you [to the counsellor]…you’re
meant to be asking me my problems.
Not my mum’s. That’s what you’re paid
for. For God’s sake, ask me…

22 Well? Relationships
This ‘provocation paper’ is written by
Alan Sinclair on behalf of The Work
Foundation think-tank, and clearly
outlines how vital the early years are to
good economics, social mobility and
quality of life.
It states that there is a direct link
between the experiences of early
childhood and subsequent adulthood –
brain development is most rapid in the
months before birth and up to age five.
If that is disrupted by drugs, alcohol,
smoking, poor diet or stress then
today’s baby becomes tomorrow’s
disadvantaged child.
Once born, a child needs someone to
love them and to respond to their
needs, and research shows that
support and education in parenting,
plus well-delivered, enriched day care,
pay dividends to the family, the child
and society.
HOW SMALL
CHILDREN MAKE A
BIG DIFFERENCE
A recent paper entitled 0-5: How Small Children Make A Big Difference has
highlighted some harsh realities about our approach to parenting and day care of
young children, and has made strong recommendations for the future.
Sinclair goes on to say that we insist
on more formal education and training
to drive a car than to be a parent. But
better parenting is not just for the
‘unfortunate’ and the ‘disadvantaged’.
More affluent homes play with fire in
outsourcing care of their babies too
early and for too long.
Getting ‘early years’ right benefits the
whole society. Through economic
research, psychology, biology and
neuroscience, the answers come out
the same: treat what happens in the
first years as gold. What is massively
encouraging is that improving what we
do in early years is already happening,
but only on a small scale and in
disparate places.
The paper makes two major
recommendations:
> Improve parenting across the UK to
establish a new parenting norm, a
new culture of parenting.
> The greatest return on investment in
education comes in the first five
years of life – the very area where
we spend the least amount of public
funds. We need to address this
issue.
To read the report including
the full recommendations visit:
http://www.theworkfoundation.com
‘We insist on more formal education and
training to drive a car than to be a parent’

It’s not easy
being a
Parent
The Scottish Executive is
undertaking a range of cross-cutting
action to support parents and
families in Scotland. Funding is
provided to a range of organisations:
Sure Start Scotland
Sure Start Scotland is the Scottish
Executive’s flagship early intervention
programme focusing on vulnerable
families with very young children.
Parenting is a key strand of Sure Start
work which aims to develop positive
parenting skills as part of four
overarching objectives: to improve
children’s emotional and social
development, to improve children’s
health, to improve children’s ability to
learn and to strengthen families and
communities. Information, services and
advice is offered at local level, including
parenting classes, peer support groups
and information on childcare benefits,
childcare, nannies and employment.
www.surestartscotland.gov.uk
Triple P
The Positive Parenting Programme –
Triple P – is a branded, evidence-based
parenting education programme
created by Professor Matt Sanders in
Australia. It is a unique, multi-level
programme which aims to prevent and
improve behaviour problems in children
and adolescents. The model draws on
social learning, cognitive behaviour and
developmental theory. Staff from a
variety of backgrounds are trained and
accredited in order to maintain
consistent standards. Delivered on an
individual or group basis, the
programme can be tailored to the
needs of individual families in relation to
the age of the child, and whether the
advice is in anticipation of parenting
issues or in response to behaviour
problems.
www.triplep.net
training@triplep.net (email for
training enquiries in Scotland)
Well? Relationships 23
ParentLine Scotland
ParentLine Scotland doesn’t aim to tell
parents what to do or how to bring up
their children. It listens and helps
callers express their feelings
(anonymously) and provides support
and information.
T: 0808 800 2222
www.children1st.org.uk/parentline
Parent Network Scotland
Parent Network Scotland runs courses
to meet the needs of today’s parents
through group work with other parents.
Learning through others is a key focus,
together with helping parents develop
their own ability to bring up confident,
happy and co-operative children.
T: 0131 555 6780
www.parentnetworkscotland.org.uk
Home-Start
Home-Start’s informal and friendly
support for family with young children
provides a lifeline to thousands of
parents across the UK. Through a
network of more than 15,000 trained
parent volunteers Home-Start supports
parents who need support for many
reasons including post-natal illness,
disability, bereavement, the illness of a
parent or child, or social isolation.
Parents supporting other parents: it’s a
simple idea that really works.
http://www.home-start.org.uk/
One Parent Families Scotland
One Parent Families Scotland is a
national voluntary organisation.
Membership includes individual lone
parents, various organisations working
with lone parents and others who just
simply want to support the cause of
lone parents. They offer a telephone
helpline, Lone Parent Rights Guide, fact
sheets, a newsletter and training.
Helpline: 0808 801 0323
www.opfs.org.uk

24 Well? Relationships
Top 10 Tips For Parents
1. When your child wants to show you
something, stop what you are doing
and pay attention to your child. It is
important to spend frequent, small
amounts of time with your child
doing things that you both enjoy.
2. Give your child lots of physical
affection – children often like
cuddles, holding hands, having a
nurse, a pat on the back, and piggy
back rides.
3. Talk to your child about things
he/she is interested in and share
aspects of your day with your child.
4. Give your child lots of descriptive
praise when they do something that
you would like to see more of, eg.
“Thank you for doing what I asked
straight away.”
5. Children are more likely to
misbehave when they are bored so
provide lots of engaging indoor and
outdoor activities for your child like
colouring pens, cardboard boxes or
dressing up clothes.
6. Teach your child new skills by first
modelling the skill yourself, then
giving your child opportunities to
learn the new skill. For example,
model speaking politely to each
other at home. Then, prompt your
child to speak politely (eg. to say
please or thank you), and praise
your child for their efforts.
7. Set clear limits on your child’s
behaviour. Sit down and have a
family discussion on the rules at
home. Let your child know what the
consequences will be if they break
the rules.
8. If your child misbehaves, stay calm
and give them a clear instruction to
stop misbehaving, e.g. “Stop
fighting; play nicely with each
other.” Praise your child if they stop.
If they do not stop, follow through
with an appropriate consequence or
use quiet time or time out.
9. Have realistic expectations. All
children misbehave at times and it
is inevitable that you will have some
discipline hassles. Make an effort to
find out what strategies are
effective with your child.
10.Look after yourself. It is difficult to
be a calm, relaxed parent if you are
stressed, anxious, or depressed. Try
to find time every week to let
yourself unwind or do something
that you enjoy.
Launched in November 2000 Starting
Well aimed to demonstrate that child
health in Glasgow could be improved
by a programme of activities that
supported families.
The project developed an intensive
home support programme delivered by
a skilled team, comprised of health
visitors, health support workers,
community nursery nurses, a bi-lingual
worker and community support
facilitators. Families were offered a
wide range of additional support
services including advice on debt,
respite childcare, community facilities,
employment and a parenting education
programme, Triple P (see page 23).
In Glasgow the lessons from Starting
Well have led to the development of
PACT (Parents And Children Together)
teams. These combined health and
social work teams, based in each of
the five Community Health and Care
Starting
Well
Starting Well was the National Health
Demonstration project for early years. The project
was based in Glasgow and acted as a testing
ground for national action and a learning resource
for the rest of Scotland.
Partnership areas, provide intensive,
time-limited, planned interventions and
support for vulnerable families with
children aged 0-5 years. The focus of
the service is to provide early
intervention work with families on a
voluntary basis.
Dissemination of learning from Starting
Well has taken place through NHS
Health Scotland’s Early Years team and
the Early Years Learning Network which
was set up to support this function.
This has involved a range of
communication with interagency
groups across Scotland.
www.healthscotland.com/
resources/networks/
early-years.aspx

Research shows that people with
relationship problems are more
susceptible to both physical and
mental health problems. SMC’s
own research has also found that
family breakdown is a contributory
factor in adolescent problems at
home and school,
underachievement, criminal
behaviour, substance abuse and
teenage pregnancy. Young people
and parents living in deprived areas
also report negative stereotyping
which affects self-confidence
bringing feelings of isolation,
insecurity, and uncertainty.
SMC’s community project REACT
(Relationship Education And
Counselling Team) works with
spare page
young people in schools building
awareness of important relationship
skills such as communication,
listening and conflict negotiation. A
specialist service for young parents
is also delivered from REACT’s base
in the heart of the local community.
REACT helps foster, develop and
maintain healthy relationships
between couples, extended family,
peers, employers and other
community members.
Mary Toner, SMC’s chief executive,
comments: “Many young people
today face multiple hardships as
they grow. Improved relationships
promote a more stable family life.
This has the added benefit of
helping people manage family
Well? Relationships 25
IMPROVING
RELATIONSHIPS
Scottish Marriage Care (SMC) is a national family support charity
with 40 years’ experience in the field of relationships. It has
recently expanded its services to provide relationship support to
children, young people and young parents in Greater Easterhouse.
situations more effectively, reducing
stress and, ultimately, leading to
better physical and mental health,
and increased social and economic
inclusion in the community.”
A REACT Young Parents Project
participant said: “We’ve got so
many skills we don’t realise we
have, because there’s this
stereotype that being a young
person is bad and it’s automatically
drummed into you.”
REACT
T: 0141 781 9681
E: react.smc@btconnect.com
www.scottishmarriagecare.org/
REACT

26 Well? Relationships
The Place2Be
By offering emotional and therapeutic
support to children The Place2Be is
making a big difference to the mental
well-being of young children across the
UK.
By intervening early, The Place2Be
seeks to help remove barriers to
learning and prevent more serious
mental health and behavioural problems
developing during adolescence. The
charity works with 113 primary schools
reaching a population of 37,000
children across the UK.
The model is simple and cost-effective,
but powerful and efficient. It involves
the whole school in a range of services
which can be accessed in a direct and
non-stigmatising way by children,
parents and teachers. Because the
clinically-trained staff and volunteer
counsellors are embedded within the
school (last year there were 376
volunteers nationwide) they are able to
provide a ‘frontline’ support service
which is adaptable and easy to access
– a particular advantage for working
with ‘hard to reach’ groups.
In Scotland, The Place2Be is currently
providing services in ten Edinburgh
schools, mainly in areas of the highest
social need. The service works with
around 100 children each term on a
one-to-one basis on issues including
self-esteem, family neglect or abuse,
bereavement and loss, or a parent’s
drug and alcohol misuse.
A lunchtime self-referral service, The
Place2Talk, is also very popular and
sees around 775 children a term, which
highlights the willingness of children to
self-refer and proactively use the
service. Issues range from children
falling out with friends and having
trouble with school work, through to
more serious issues of neglect or
abuse.
The Scottish Executive was one of the
current funding partners which enabled
the original piloting of the service in
Edinburgh. Work is also funded through
contributions from the schools
themselves, Lothian Health, the City of
Edinburgh Council (Children and
Families division) and a number of
grant-making trusts, as well as support
from a growing consortium of partners.
Following their successes in Edinburgh
they are keen to extend their reach to
support many more children and
families in Scotland, particularly in
Glasgow.
www.theplace2be.org.uk

CaseStudy
Angela* was referred to The Place2Be after she
started school last year. A report from her previous
nursery highlighted that a dramatic change had
occurred in her personality – she had become
noticeably withdrawn having initially been a very
open, confident child.
Angela’s mother had recently died
from cancer. She and Angela had lived
with her grandmother but after her
mother's death she went to live with
her father. Following a custody battle
her father was given full parental rights
and contact time with her grandma
was reduced.
Throughout this difficult and uncertain
transition Angela was being
interrogated by a number of adults
(parent, grandmother, solicitors)
causing her a great deal of confusion.
Both Angela’s father and grandmother
seemed unaware of her difficulties
which were only recognised by the
school. As Angela developed a safe
and open relationship with her
counsellor changes began to be seen
outwith her sessions and her former,
more confident, personality
re-emerged. She also began
interacting more with her friends.
Meetings were held with Angela's
father, grandmother and teacher and
they noted improvements in Angela’s
behaviour. Although at times she was
more disobedient with her father, this
was seen as progress as she was now
expressing her feelings more openly to
her father.
Angela’s father and grandmother both
felt positive about The Place2Be
service and felt they had been treated
equally and non-judgmentally. Having
been involved throughout the whole
process, The Place2Be had
encouraged them to think more about
Angela’s well-being and the impact
their relationship was having on her.
*names have been changed.
Well? Relationships 27
Why do we
need The
Place2Be?
> It is estimated that 80% of
children who show behavioural
problems at age five will go on
to develop more anti-social
behaviour; 80% of these
children are in mainstream
classes, so their behaviour
affects many others.
> Emotionally disturbed children
frequently fail to realise their
potential and are at a higher risk
of developing drug and alcohol
dependence, mental health
difficulties and anti-social
personality disorders which, if
left unaddressed, can have
serious negative consequences
notjustfortheindividualchild
and their family, but for the
community as a whole.
> Among young offenders, 90%
have experienced mental health
problems in childhood which are
apparent by the age of seven,
and nearly three-quarters have
been excluded or truanted
regularly. These figures illustrate
a crucial need to address mental
health problems as early as
possible.

28 Well? Relationships
“The Initiative has had
a huge impact on the
pupils in Inverclyde
and, with the help of
a core group of high
school pupils, has
grown to support the
wider community
through drama
presentations and
conflict management
workshops”
PEACEFUL
AGREEMENT
The Inverclyde Peace Initiative began in 1997 with a conference held
by five local secondary schools to promote the concept of Peaceful
Schools. The event was so successful that it is now held each year,
led mainly by young people who have been trained as workshop
leaders. So what is a Peaceful School?
Dedicated youth group members during a
training weekend in Largs
Charlene Kelly, the Initiative’s education
development officer who has now developed
further Peaceful Schools programmes, explains:
“Peaceful Schools aim to provide tools to build
relationships based on respect, tolerance,
cooperation and empathy. Some of these
programmes include Peer Mediation Rooms, a
whole-school Befriending Programme, Peaceful
Playgrounds and Pre-5 Circles of Friendship where
children learn constructive communication skills in
small groups.
“The Initiative has had a huge impact on the
pupils in Inverclyde and, with the help of a core
group of high school pupils, has grown to support
the wider community through drama
presentations and conflict management
workshops”
Secondary ‘Peaceful Schools’ Conference
Workshop Leaders
Following a training course in anger management,
drama, anti-bullying and delivering presentations,
ten young people are now helping Charlene
deliver drama and anti-bullying strategy
workshops to primary and secondary Personal and
Social Education (PSE) classes developed from
her recent anti-bullying strategies handbook,
Bullying Hurts Everybody.
“Peace education has been shown to have real
value. We’ve had young people saying how much
it’s helped them listen and communicate more
constructively, and to be more positive in their
relationships with others. One head teacher
noticed such a change in two of his pupils that he
presented them both with the school’s top award
for citizenship.”
The Peaceful Schools initiative is supported by
Inverclyde Education Services and won the
Queen’s Golden Jubilee Award in 2003.
T: 01475 715534
E: cdkelly@lycos.com
www.inverclydepeaceinitiative.co.uk

James became a media volunteer in 2004,
helping to launch ‘see me’s second year of
campaigning during Scottish Mental Health
Week. Since then he has given radio and TV
interviews and has appeared in numerous
publications in support of national and local
anti-stigma activity. James also supported
the launch of the Scottish Recovery Network
in December 2004 before starting to
volunteer with Breathing Space.
Over the past two years, James has taken
part in awareness-raising events and media
activity across Scotland on behalf of
Breathing Space. By sharing his own
experience of mental health problems he is
able to reach out to other young men and
encourage them to be aware of their mental
health and to talk about their feelings.
Tony McLaren, national co-ordinator for
Breathing Space, said, “The phone line
service specifically, but not exclusively,
targets young men who are experiencing low
mood and difficulties in their lives. We are
very fortunate that James is willing to talk
publicly about his own experiences which
highlight the importance of seeking help at an
Well? Relationships 29
Congratulations to James Cairns who jointly won Helpline Volunteer of the Year, a national
award from the Telephone Helplines Association. James received the award at a ceremony
held in London’s BT Tower in recognition of his work promoting Breathing Space, Scotland’s
helpline for people experiencing low mood or depression.
‘I never thought I
would win, but I was
really honoured that
Breathing Space had
nominated me’
HELPLINE
AWARD
early stage to avoid problems escalating. We
are extremely grateful to James for all his
hard work and are delighted that his
contribution has been recognised through this
award.”
James commented, “I never thought I would
win, but I was really honoured that Breathing
Space had nominated me. I was a bit worried
about going to the ceremony in London
because the last time I was there, eight
years ago, was when I became really unwell.
In the end, it was my mum who persuaded
me to go and I’m so glad she did. Winning
the award has brought home to me the
importance of what I do. I believe we’re
making a difference and if you’d said to me
eight years ago that my mental illness would
have taken me on this journey, I wouldn’t
have believed you. I’m proud that I’m
involved. I’m looking forward to doing more
work with ‘see me’ and Breathing Space in
the future.”
www.breathingspacescotland.co.uk

30 Well? Online Social Networks
Public Display of
Connection
YouTube, Bebo, MSN … A new language? Youth jargon?
Teen gobbledegook? Whatever…
These are in fact interactive websites and the latest craze in teen social networking.
But what’s the appeal? Well? asked Jodi McCoy, 14, from Maybole in Ayrshire to
explain.
MSN, YouTube and Bebo are very popular
websites which have chat rooms. They are
mostly famous with young people today
because young people can talk about
issues with someone they don’t know and
let out a lot of feelings to one another.
Young people are likely to end up trusting
this person because they listen to them.
BUT, (emphasis on that but) the person
they are talking to might not really be
listening and the young person might get
hurt and realise this person does not really
care about them, so they then look for
someone new to chat to. You don’t always
know if the other person is young, or just
pretending to be young, so everyone is
careful not to tell anyone they don’t know
anything about themselves.
The other hurtful situation is when a person
might ignore your messages or even block
them because they don’t want to speak to
you anymore, but don’t let this upset you.
Young people these days DO know the
safety issues around Internet bullies and
stalkers because they read things about
this at school and from other groups or
websites (like youngscot.org.uk).
They can talk away like they do at school
without their parents interfering with them.
You wouldn’t exactly tell your
mother/father/carer who you have a crush
on at school, or if you snogged five people
at the disco you went to last night.
Teenagers like being alone with their friends
without adults lurking over them.
MSN is a website where young people like
me can confidentially talk to their peers.
However, a girl I know made up an MSN
that didn’t show her name and she added
her crush. They talked away like they knew
each other forever, but at school he called
her names. That was depressing for her
because she really liked this guy.
Parents can take some control by trying it
out themselves and seeing what they’re
missing. They shouldn’t be as worried as
they are. And there are age restrictions on
violent or sexual videos so your child can’t
watch these. Try and get into a young
person’s frame of mind and ask yourself,
“Why does my son/daughter like this?” It’ll
help you bond more with them and maybe
they won’t hate you as much (typical for
teenagers to hate their parents, though it
passes, although I don’t hate mine).
So I hope this helps adults understand a bit
more about the websites young people go
into and why they like them so much.
Jodi McCoy writes for the South
Ayrshire Young Scot Hack Pack team.
www.youtube.com
www.bebo.com
www.msn.com

Click to the clique
– a rundown of the top networking sites.
Bebo (www.bebo.com)
Founded in January 2005, Bebo now has over 23 million users in the UK.
Originally used by the 13-18-year-old age group it now has a growing older
demographic using its networking facilities. Create your own (free)
personal profile page, add friends and start networking.
MySpace (www.myspace.com)
MySpace is the networking site which has been credited with launching
the careers of numerous UK music artists, including The Arctic Monkeys
and Lilly Allen. As the 5th most popular English speaking website with over
100 million subscribers worldwide*, MySpace has become an integral part
of British pop culture.
Facebook (www.facebook.com)
Popular with British teens and twenty-somethings early in the networking
craze and before the prolific rise of MySpace and Bebo, the 6 million
subscribers now also boast membership of ‘networkers’ in their 30s, 40s
and 50s.
MSN (www.msn.com)
Not a social networking site, but an instant email messaging service that
allows you to talk to several friends at once in real time.
YouTube (www.youtube.com)
Created in 2005, YouTube is a video sharing website which lets users
upload, view, and share video clips. Videos can be rated, and the average
rating and the number of times a video has been watched are both
published. YouTube receives an average of 8 million visits a day** and has
out-paced the growth of MySpace in popularity.
*Source: CNN, September 2006;
**Source: www.wikipedia.org, March 2007.
Well? Online Social Networks 31
Positive Twist!
With more than half the UK’s 16-24
year olds using social networking sites
such as MySpace and Bebo at least
once a week*, the WellScotland team
recognised that the most effective
way of reaching the ‘networked
generation’ was by helping young
people create an online mental
well-being forum promoting positive
mental health.
Positive Twist is the dedicated mental wellbeing
forum, created by young people for
young people with support from Penumbra.
Using a virtual character ‘Pete’ to represent
and talk about positive mental well-being,
the forum will be constantly evolving,
communicating and debating positive
mental health as young people sign up to
be part of the network. The WellScotland
team and young people who created the
forum hope that this will create a young
person's ‘mental well-being movement’.
With over 23 million registered users in the
UK and a younger demographic than
MySpace or Facebook, Bebo
(www.bebo.com) was chosen as the most
suitable site for the forum.
To visit the Positive Twist mental well-being
forum visit: http://positive-twist.bebo.com
*Source: The Financial Times, August 2006.
2007.

32 Well? Online Social Networks
Surf Safe!
How to stay safe online
Here are some practical tips on how you can
practice ‘safe surfing’ online:
> Keep your password safe and don't
give out any personal details,
especially your address, telephone
number or school.
> Be careful in chat rooms. There’s no
way of telling who is using it. It
might be someone trying to trick
you.
> If someone says something that
makes you feel uncomfortable or
worried, then leave the chat room.
Don't respond to nasty, suggestive
messages, or rude pictures. If this
happens, make sure you tell
someone you trust or contact
www.ceop.gov.uk (Child Exploitation
and Online Protection Centre)
> Use a nickname when in chatrooms
or on the internet and don't give out
your main (or only) email address.
Keep it private. If you want to give
out an email address choose a
disposable address, e.g. a second
Hotmail address.
A new website Supporting Student
Mental Health and Well-being is to
be launched at the end of May 2007.
Developed by Sandy MacLean and
Margaret Hart at the Scottish Further
Education Unit and funded by the
National Programme, the site has
been produced in response to
requests from staff in Scotland’s
Colleges and Universities. They
asked for a central resource that
gives information and guidance on
mental health issues, especially
relating to the support of student
mental health and well-being.
> Be yourself and don’t pretend to be
someone else – no matter how
attractive the option of leading a
double life! If you aren't 18 yet steer
clear of sites that say they are for
over-18s. It's a huge temptation, but
the warnings are there to protect
you.
> Before you leave a computer
remember to log out of all the sites
you’ve logged on to. This way
nobody can pretend to be you, or
use services that only you are
entitled to use.
> Don’t ever send anyone your picture
or your bank or credit card details
without first checking with a
responsible adult. You can check if a
site is secure by looking for a lock or
padlock icon at the bottom of your
screen. If it is locked then the site is
secure. For more info you can click
on the padlock.
The aims of the website are:
• To provide an online resource that
can be updated for staff
supporting student mental health
• To highlight an overall institutional
approach to student mental health
and well-being.
• To highlight good practice in
mental health improvement
initiatives through case studies
• To advise staff of their
responsibilities in relation to
relevant legislation and policy
> Don't sign up for a ‘get rich quick’
scheme. If it sounds too good to be
true then it probably is. If not, then
it may even end up costing you
money.
> Don't arrange to meet anyone
unless your parent, carer or your
most responsible friend goes with
you, and you meet in a very public
place with lots of people around.
> Don't open email attachments
unless they are from someone you
already know and trust, as they may
contain viruses.
For more information on how to help
your child stay safe visit
www.ceop.gov.uk or encourage your
child to look at
www.youngscot.org.uk/websafety.
SUPPORTING STUDENT MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING
• To be a central point where links
to national initiatives and other
resources can be found
The site will be of particular use to
senior management, seeking to
establish effective policies and
procedures relating to mental health,
lecturers and support staff in day-today
contact with students, and staff
working within student support.
www.ssmh.ac.uk

WEB DIRECTORY
Keep clicking…here’s everything
you need to know about health
improvement sites and more…
MENTAL HEALTH
WellScotland
www.wellscotland.info
Online information about positive mental
well-being and mental health promotion,
including stress tests, top tips, personal
stories, publications and research.
Sign up for a monthly e-bulletin.
Talking2Ourselves
www.talking2ourselves.com
Well-being information for young people by
young people.
Breathing Space 0800 83 85 87
www.breathingspacescotland.co.uk
The free and confidential phoneline and
website for people in Scotland who are
feeling low or depressed.
Choose Life
www.chooselife.net
Scotland’s national strategy and action plan
to prevent suicide.
Sign up for a regular e-bulletin.
Living Life to the Full
www.livinglifetothefull.com
Website offering access to free Cognitive
Behavioural Therapy courses online.
Scotland’s Mental Health First Aid
www.smhfa.com
Training course that helps people to
recognise and assist someone with the
signs and symptoms of a mental health
problem.
Scottish Recovery Network
www.scottishrecovery.net
Helps promote and support the process of
recovery from mental ill health for
individuals and gain a wider
understanding of what helps people
recover. Sign up for a regular e-bulletin.
‘see me’
www.seemescotland.org
National anti-stigma campaign challenging
stigma and discrimination around mental ill
health.
ArtFull (arts and mental health)
www.artfull.org
Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM)
www.thecalmzone.net
Cruse Bereavement Care
www.crusescotland.org.uk
Depression Alliance Scotland
0845 123 23 20
www.dascot.org
HeadsUpScotland
(children and young people’s mental health)
www.headsupscotland.com
Hearing Voices Network
0845 122 8642
www.hearing-voices.org
Manic Depression Fellowship
www.mdf.org.uk
Mind
0845 766 0163
www.mind.org.uk
Moodjuice
www.moodjuice.scot.nhs.uk
National Schizophrenia Fellowship
(Scotland)
www.nsfscot.org.uk
No Panic 0808 808 0545
www.nopanic.org.uk
Samaritans
08457 90 90 90
www.samaritans.org
Saneline 0845 767 8000
www.sane.org.uk
Scottish Association of Mental Health
www.samh.org.uk
PHYSICAL HEALTH
NHS 24 08454 24 24 24
www.nhs24.com
Alcohol
www.infoscotland.com/alcohol
Alcoholics Anon. 0845 769 7555
www.alcoholics-anonymous.org
Drinkline 0800 917 8282
HEALTHY LIVING
Healthy Living Campaign
www.healthyliving.gov.uk
Know the Score
0800 587 5879
www.knowthescore.info
Men’s Health Forum Scotland
www.mhfs.org.uk
NHS Health Scotland
www.healthscotland.com
Smokeline 0800 84 84 84
Sudden Trauma Helpline
0845 367 0998
www.stish.org
Well? Online Social Networks 33
Scottish Centre for Healthy Working Lives
www.healthyworkinglives.com
The National Resource Centre for Ethnic
Minority Health
www.nrcemh.nhsscotland.com
PARENTING/FAMILY
Aberlour Child Care Trust
www.aberlour.org.uk
Association for Post Natal Illness
www.apni.org
Families Outside 0500 83 93 83
www.familiesoutside.org.uk
Net Mums
www.netmums.com
Parents Centre
www.parentcentre.gov.uk
Parentline 0808 800 2222
www.children1st.org.uk/parentline
Parentline Plus
www.parentlineplus.org.uk
INTERNET SAFETY
Child Exploitation & Online
www.ceop.gov.uk
Protection Agency
Think U Know
www.thinkuknow.co.uk
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE
Anti-bullying Network
www.antibullying.net
Penumbra
www.penumbra.org.uk
Positive Twist
http://positive-twist.bebo.com
Bullying Online
www.bullying.co.uk
Childline 0800 11 11
www.childline.org.uk
Young Scot
www.youngscot.org.uk
AND MORE...
Age Concern Scotland
www.ageconcernscotland.org
Citizens Advice
www.citizensadvice.org.uk
Communities Scotland
www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk
Emergency Services 999
JogScotland
www.jogscotland.org.uk
LGBT
www.lgbtyouth.org.uk
Volunteer Development Scotland
www.vds.org.uk

34 Well? Profile
Optimistic
Futures
Paula Huddart describes
the opportunity of leading
a three-year research project
into the effectiveness of
mental health link workers
in schools as “an absolute
privilege”. Following
30 years’ experience in
social work, both in field and
planning capacities, the
opportunity to read, think,
study and ultimately
report her findings has
clearly been a gratifying
and fascinating experience.
Paula is a service development officer
(children and families) for West Lothian
Council and has recently published
Insiders on the outside: primary mental
health work in schools, her report on
the impact of mental health link
workers in mainstream West Lothian
schools since 2002.
The need to improve access for
children to mental health services has
been recognised in Scotland for some
time, but it was the West Lothian
Children’s Services Plan, submitted in
2002, that was the catalyst for action
in her local area.
‘There are still people
who believe that
children don’t ever
have mental health
problems’
“The plan showed real gaps in lack of
access to public services for some
children across the country. In
particular, children in West Lothian
were waiting up to 14 months to be
seen by a child psychiatrist or a clinical
psychologist,” says Paula, who has
now reverted to her post with West
Lothian Council.
The report prompted the National
Programme to fund a qualitative study
of the four mental health link workers
who were by then appointed and
placed in the integration offices of four
West Lothian schools to provide a
service to all 77 local schools. Paula
recalls that, in 2002, bringing mental
health professionals into schools was
considered to be a very new concept.
“Technically, we were putting health
posts into education – something
which hadn’t been done before. Like
any new job, I was very apprehensive
about the research post at first, and
thought, ‘golly, what do I know about
mental health?’.

“But it soon became clear that, for
instance, the concepts of ‘attachment’
and ‘resilience’ were all very familiar
and exactly what I had been dealing
with for 30 years as a front line social
worker. It’s just that, back then, we
didn’t label these issues as ‘mental
health problems’. There’s no question
that my social work experience was
invaluable in helping me understand
mental health problems in children and
put everything into context.”
Paula has been based in West Lothian
since 1974 when she began her career
as a trainee social worker involved in
the practice developments of the day –
the start of the child in care review
system and managing family
placements for adopted children.
Following a career break to have two
children of her own, she resumed her
social work career, ultimately becoming
involved in national developments in
child care and in conferences. She now
combines her current post with
tutoring first year social work law at
Edinburgh University and, during the
research, was working towards a
Master of Philosophy.
Paula chooses to work with children
and young people as she believes it’s
an area where social workers can make
a real difference.
‘There’s something
very optimistic about
working with children’
“I’m not saying we can solve every
young person’s problem, but it’s a
sector which I find very dynamic.
As a front line social worker it was
sometimes quite hard constantly
dealing with problems and rarely
getting any feedback when things
worked out. Sometimes, I might have
read something in the paper about
someone I knew completing suicide, or
having to come back into the system.
That can be very difficult. Now I’m
involved in planning, I get satisfaction
knowing we can change resources at
authority level and make a positive
impact. ”Paula is frustrated, however,
that children and young people’s
mental health services are still given
relatively low priority on the health
agenda.
“It’s getting better, but not quickly
enough,” she says. “There are still
people who believe that children don’t
ever have mental health problems.
They refuse to accept that neglect and
child abuse take place. Yes, it’s ugly,
but it happens and I’ve seen it. To
refuse to accept this fact negates
these children’s experiences.
“We promote the fact that to be
mentally healthy you should have
someone you love to care for you.
But if children have bad experiences
early in life, they’re too young to even
articulate them. These negative
experiences can then define their
whole perception of the world. It
becomes an unsafe, altered place –
not the world that we experience. I find
it disturbing if people won’t accept how
fundamentally important this is.”
Children’s mental health should be
given higher priority, she says, and if
their problems are tackled more
effectively, society wouldn’t have to
bear the cost of the possible negative
Well? Profile 35
outcomes in later life – typically young
women going to psychiatric hospital
and young men ending up in jail.
She believes an important part of the
process is about listening to children
and young people, hearing what they
have to say and treating them as
individuals.
“I don’t agree with the current negative
perceptions of childhood. And some
sectors of society are far too ready to
criminalise young people. For example,
we’re not serving our young people
well if we focus on the way they’re
portrayed in some of the press.
“When West Lothian hosted the
Scottish Youth Parliament here to
debate mental health, the young
people were clearly worried about the
perception the public had about
‘hoodies’. They – wonderfully –
presented our chief executive and Lord
Provost with hooded tops – good on
them! It’s not about what young
people wear, or whether or not they
‘congregate’ – neither of these things
mean they’re planning to get into
trouble.
“It’s easy to classify children and young
people’s behaviour – that tells us about
the behaviour, but it doesn’t tell us
where that behaviour came from. Every
child is different and there are many
types of background that can lead to
mental health problems. That should be
the next stage of research – because
there’s not one single solution.”
See page 36 for a summary of
Paula’s research, Insiders on the
Outside: Mental Health Link
Workers in Schools.

36 Well? Research
‘INSIDERS ON THE OUTSIDE:
MENTAL HEALTH LINK
WORKERS IN SCHOOLS’
Like many other areas, West Lothian had lengthy waiting lists for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
in 2001. They were also developing New Community Schools as the focus for outreach work. The Children’s
Services Plan of 2002/04 proposed new posts of Mental Health Link Worker in New Community Schools.
From January 2003 four Mental Health Link Workers were based in secondary schools to cover 11 secondary
and 66 primary mainstream schools. Their main roles were consultation, direct work and training.
The model was new to Scotland, and
the National Programme for Improving
Mental Health and Well-being funded a
three-year research programme to
study this new way of working,
responding directly to school and
community referrals, including direct
access by children and their families.
From October to December 2004
interviews were carried out with 23
Pupil Support Staff in the 11 secondary
schools. They reported perceived
improvements in:
• their own knowledge about child
mental health and skills
• referral processes for concerns
about children
• access to services for children at
the onset of mental illness
Some staff also reported using the
posts for support with concerns about
behaviour.
The results from comparative
interviews with the four West Lothian
post-holders and six other Primary
Mental Health Workers from other
parts of Scotland highlighted common
problems and demands, including
pressure of work, management
difficulties and short-term funding. They
identified four strands to ‘capacity
building’ in dealing with child mental
health problems:
• Making space to think
• Making relationships
• Providing knowledge and skills
• Providing containment for anxieties
Social work staff reported good early
intervention work but little impact for
Looked After Children. Child and
Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH)
staff said that it helped to have reliable
assessments of children and supports
for them in the community.
A large questionnaire of young people,
three years after class work in primary
schools, was undertaken in June 2006
and was inconclusive about the impact
of this work on later management of
emotions, the only indications being
that it might help boys, and those in
non-RC primary schools.
Full results of the interviews
with school staff are in the article
‘Insiders on the Outside’, Journal
of Public Mental Health, Vol 5,
Issue 2.
A final report on the Research
Project is available at
www.wellscotland.info

Building...
the strengths within
A new programme is addressing self-harm
with Scotland’s young people from black
and minority ethnic communities.
In 2004 the National Resource Centre
for Ethnic Minority Health (NRCEMH)
and the Scottish Development Centre
for Mental Health (SDC) became aware
that relatively little was known about
the experiences of young people from
ethnic minority communities in
Scotland around mental health and,
specifically, with regard to self-harm
and suicide. It was also found that
there was little support for agencies
and practitioners working in this
particular field.
In 2004, the Camelot Foundation
and the Mental Health Foundation
launched a two year programme,
The National Inquiry into Self-Harm
Among Young People, to
investigate how public services
across the UK can:
• work with communities, families
and young people in order to
prevent self-harm among young
people (aged 11-25)
• increase the understanding about
self-harm, and
• improve responses to people who
self-harm
Simultaneously Camelot awarded
capacity-building grants, and the SDC
launched the Building the Strengths
Within programme in Scotland. The
purpose of this project was to establish
a network of agencies and practitioners
to explore the issues around black and
minority ethnic young people and
self-harm. The group aimed to build
the capacity of individuals and
organisations working with young
people from ethnic minority
communities who self-harm, or are at
risk of self-harm, and to respond more
appropriately to the young people’s
needs.
To raise awareness of the issues
around self-harm, particularly across
black and ethnic minority communities,
Building the Strengths Within worked
with ‘see me’, the national anti-stigma
campaign challenging attitudes towards
mental ill health, to provide support to
the media on World Self Harm Day in
March 2007. Information and personal
stories appeared on BBC, STV, radio
and the press.
SDC formed a steering group
which identified a number of key
issues:
• Although many of the individuals
who self-harm may contact services
for support and treatment there is a
lack of awareness of the issues
around self-harm.
Well? Building Strengths 37
• Within ethnic minority communities
individuals may have different
concepts of mental health and
well-being to those held by mental
health professionals.
• Professionals are often lacking in
confidence in working with young
people from minority ethnic groups,
and are afraid of saying the wrong
thing.
The steering group has run a series of
interactive seminars with national and
local groups of practitioners from
various backgrounds including teaching
and psychiatry. In addition, SDC has
established a database of organisations
in Scotland with interest and
experience in self-harm and young
people from ethnic minority
backgrounds.
For more information about the
programme contact:
Pippa Coutts, SOC
E: pippa@sdcmh.org.uk
www.sdcmh.org.uk
Dale Meller, NRCEM
E: Dale.Meller@health.scot.nhs.uk
www.nrcemh.nhsscotland.com
www.penumbra.org.uk

38 Well? What Else?
Well?...
what else?
news and information…
ESTEEM GLASGOW
Esteem Glasgow is a city-wide service
aimed at 16-35 year olds experiencing
their first episode of psychosis. Funded
by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde,
the service offers a recovery-based
approach to psychosis. This is
important, as around 80% of people
experiencing a first episode of
psychosis will be symptom-free in six
months, and 20% of people
experiencing psychosis will have only
one episode and will recover
completely.
Esteem Glasgow complements current
national work to reduce stigma around
mental illness, by supporting other
services in recognising psychosis and
enabling faster and easier access to
treatment.
Promoting recovery and creating an
optimistic outlook for young people and
their families is a key aim. This involves
providing treatment at home and
intensive community support to avoid
hospital admission where possible and
help people resume a fulfilling life.
Esteem Glasgow
T: 0141 303 8924
FREE YOUR EARS AND JUST LISTEN!
A youth group in Broxburn, West
Lothian, has just won a national
podcasting competition, for its efforts
in tackling stigma and raising
awareness of mental health among
young people. The Just Listen podcast
was created by a young people-led
mental health group Free Ears which
set up the project to get their voices
heard. Founding member Anna Healy
feels she has come a long way since
the group started, saying, “I felt that I
wasn’t really understood by the pupils
or the teachers at school and it can be
difficult to know where to go to get
help. In the last year we [the group]
have grown more comfortable with
each other, learnt so many new skills
and boosted our confidence.”
Free Ears is run by Young Scot and BT.
www.myspace.com/freeearsgroup
RESTART EVALUATION
Restart is an Edinburgh-based
employability project which aims to
promote recovery for people with
mental health problems by supporting
them into work. Evaluation of Restart
shows that of the 25 people who left
the project in its first 2 years, 13
moved on to employment or further
education.
It also found that the project had a
positive effect on people’s recovery
with some participants talking about
increased hope, self esteem, selfawareness,
resilience and health
improvement. It was clear that
recovery, employment and social
inclusion outcomes were strongly
related.
However, people supported by the
project have faced issues sustaining
employment, and the evaluation
implies there is a need for further work,
both for Restart and others with a
stake in employability around job
retention.
LAUNCH OF RESEARCH TRAINING
MODULES FOR CAMHS STAFF
West of Scotland Children and
Adolescent Mental Health Services
(CAMHS) Research Network and NHS
Greater Glasgow and Clyde have
developed a series of research training
modules to enhance capacity for
enquiry amongst CAMHS clinicians.
The training is supported by
HeadsUpScotland and aims to provide
basic and advanced skills, and
signposts towards other training
courses.
Registration is FREE!
View information and registration form
here.
www.gla.ac.uk/developmental/cpd
/NewCourses.html

The evaluation was carried out by The
Scottish Development Centre for
Mental Health and Forth Sector.
Restart
Pegs Bailey
T: 0131 659 4710
E: pegs.baily@forthsector.org.uk
ALONG THE WAY
Young Adults in Dumfries and Galloway
have been sharing their personal
experiences of mental ill health in a
booklet called Along the Way. The
venture is supported by The National
Schizophrenia Fellowship (Scotland)
through their C U Thru and Youth
Outreach projects.
It is aimed at supporting other young
people in similar situations to realise
they are not alone.
The booklet is a window into the lives
of family, neighbours, classmates or
friends, and is aimed at people who
seek to understand mental ill health,
and those who struggle with it every
day. The booklet also aims to inspire
people to find out more about mental
health which is often so distorted by
lack of knowledge or stigma.
www.wellscotland.info/publications.
FREE YOUR MIND
The Highland Users Group (HUG) is
working with young people and Eden
Court Theatre to research, write and
produce a film to raise awareness with
teenagers about schizophrenia, hearing
voices and psychosis. Free your Mind is
due to be completed in May 2007
when it will be showcased within
selected Highland secondary schools.
Film-maker Charlie Wilson and Eden
Court Outreach Drama Artist-in-
Residence John Batty are also involved
in the project, which will result in a
DVD being produced, incorporating the
film and personal testimonies from
people with direct experience of
psychotic illnesses. The DVD will be
distributed free to all Highland
secondary schools. HUG is a network
of users of mental health services
across the Highlands.
T: 01463 718817
E: hug@hccf.org.uk
www.hug.uk.net
CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S
VOLUNTARY SECTOR FORUM
Young Scotland in Mind (YSIM) is a
new network of voluntary sector
organisations which aims to foster a
culture of working and learning
together in order to promote the
mental health and well-being of all
children and young people in Scotland.
The forum brings together voluntary
sector organisations to communicate
more effectively, build on collective
strengths, and influence the
development of policy and practice.
Led by Barnardos and funded by
HeadsUpScotland, YSIM has been
welcomed by the voluntary sector and
presently has representatives from over
70 organisations across Scotland, and
continues to grow.
The forum welcomes employees from
all voluntary sector organisations and
non-governmental organisations in
Scotland. Membership is free.
Fiona Ogg
T: 0131 314 6649
E: fiona.ogg@barnardos.org.uk
www.barnardos.org.uk/
youngscotlandinmin
Well? What Else? 39
GET ON BOARD!
Re-Union Canal Boats is a social
enterprise company that uses
Edinburgh’s Union Canal to make a
difference to people’s lives by inviting
them to share in the social and cultural
life of the canal. The canal – which
forms a unique wildlife corridor
connecting Edinburgh with the rural
countryside of Mid and West Lothian –
was recently re-opened in 2002.
Re-Union is not strictly a mental health
organisation, but the team recognises
the immense benefits of being on the
boat, getting ‘green’ exercise and
building confidence among people of all
ages with mental health problems.
There are three ways you can get
involved with Re-Union:
• Hire the boat – commercial hire of
the boats is popular with a wide
variety of organisations like
Muirhouse Youth Development
Agency, Raleigh International,
HBOS, and the City of Edinburgh
Council
• Volunteer – Re-Union works with
volunteers from a variety of
backgrounds who crew, operate and
maintain the boats, developing their
skills and learning from each other.
• Build boats – with recent Big
Lottery funding Re-Union volunteers
are fitting out a new canal boat
which will double their capacity.
Re-Union also delivers canoebuilding
programmes with teenage
volunteers.
Re-union
T: 0845 345 7448
www.re-union.org.uk

40 Well? What Else?
ER06
Last year East Renfrewshire Council
actively addressed the issue of
negative perceptions of young people
and organised ER06 – a month-long
festival for young people aged 12 to 21.
Local young people worked with a
multi-agency steering group to organise
a series of activities to promote and
celebrate young people’s positive
actions and inspirations in sports, the
arts, culture, education and social
activity.
Over 1,000 young people took part in
debates, mini-Olympics, dance, drama
and multi-media workshops which
were broadcast on Pulse FM, the
festival radio station. Many activities
were designed to target disaffected
and disengaged young people and
those who were involved in crime, antisocial
behaviour and substance misuse.
ER06 culminated in an Oscar-style night
when local police officers presented
awards in 18 categories including
sport, volunteering, health and
citizenship. Plans are underway to
make the festival an annual event.
E: login@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk
FAST FORWARD
The Scottish Executive has committed
funding to the support of peer
education work with young people
across Scotland. The value of peer
education in providing information and
advice for young people by young
people featured strongly in the recent
consultation on the national Youth Work
Strategy. As a result, Fast Forward is
now the Edinburgh-based national
voluntary organisation which promotes
health for young people, has been
funded to continue to support this work
following a successful three year pilot
project.
The Scottish Peer Education Network
(SPEN), which was developed during
the pilot, currently has over 100
organisational members working in a
wide variety of issues, from sexual
health, substance misuse and mental
health to community safety and
literacies.
A national network officer will be based
with Fast Forward which will provide
support to new and existing initiatives,
improve communication and the
sharing of experiences, devise and
deliver training, develop capacity
building and support young people and
local workers.
Fast Forward
T: 0131 554 4300
E: admin@fastforward.org.uk
www.fastforward.org.uk
WHO IS MAURICE?
A new magazine called Maurice aimed
at young people and artists was
launched earlier this year by Stephanie
Post from the Contemporary Art
Society in London, and deaf artist and
writer Louise Stern. They liked the idea
of thinking about the magazine as a
person – so they named it Maurice.
With a new theme every issue,
Maurice is a colourful and interactive
mix of contemporary art, profiles and
fun things to do. Issue one asked
readers to send in ideas, pictures,
stories, photographs (anything really)
about who they thought Maurice was.
The next theme will be creatures. The
team also run workshops with schools.
Maurice receives no financial support
other than that provided by generous
benefactors, so unfortunately it is not
currently being distributed in Scotland.
Maurice
E: louise@mauricemagazine.com
To view the magazine or subscribe
visit www.mauricemagazine.com.
SMART TECHNOLOGY
Smart Technology, aka ‘Telecare’, is
electronic equipment which provides
safety and independence to people in
their own homes. The equipment is
linked to a response centre (24 hours)
where staff are on hand to answer calls
or summon help if needed. Telecare has
been used successfully with people of
all ages and a wide range of needs,
including those who have had a stroke,
have dementia or are at risk of
domestic abuse. Equipment includes:
• a personal trigger (worn as a
pendant) which when pressed calls
the response centre
• passive infra red movement sensors
which detect inactivity and raise the
alarm at the response centre
• a flood detector which provides
early warning of when a bath or sink
is overflowing
• an open door alert which sends an
alarm if a person opens the door
and leaves the property
Dumfries and Galloway Council and
NHS Dumfries and Galloway are jointly
promoting Smart Technology through
staff who have volunteered to be
Telecare champions. Two
demonstration flats in Dumfries and
Stranraer have also been equipped with
a range of equipment.
For a copy of the Smart Ideas
book with information on Smart
Technology call 01387 272734. For
a demonstration at one of the flats
call Care Call on 01387 260352.

NEWS & EVENTS!
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42 Well? Contact Us
Acknowledgements:
We would like to thank everyone who
contributed to this edition of Well?.
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ABIG
THANK YOU!
In her role as director of
HeadsUpScotland Anne has achieved
more than many of us working in
mental health improvement could have
hoped for.
Initially, following recommendations
contained in the SNAP Report for Child
and Adolescent Mental Health (May
2003), Anne and her colleagues had a
vision of how the children and young
people’s agenda might take shape.
But would it be possible to bring
together the three key elements of
promotion, prevention and care and
make it work?
Anne made that possible. She forged
links across education, the voluntary
sector, participation and children’s
services and made it clear she was fully
supportive of work in each area. In
collaboration with these sectors, she
devised practical ways – stakeholder
events, resources, training and a
tool-kit – to ensure that people working
in services had a role in the promotion
of mental well-being, and the
prevention of mental health problems
and mental illness.
Led by Anne, HeadsUpScotland has
been hugely successful as a central
focus. It has brought together all
children and young people’s mental
health activity, and has developed an
Well? Testimonial 43
After three years at the helm of HeadsUpScotland, the
national project for children and young people’s mental
health, Anne Clarke is moving on to pastures new.
‘inclusive space’ where organisations
working across the promotion,
prevention and care agendas can feel
equally represented. Indeed, the
Inspire, Include, Improve conference
(December 2006) where the voluntary
sector, CAMHS, other children’s health
services and, crucially, young people
gathered together under one roof, was
testament to how effective
HeadsUpScotland has been in uniting
the different strands of children and
young people’s mental health work.
As a colleague, Anne is lively, engaging
and – at times when the challenge
seemed too great – a positive force
who kept moving forward. Anne will be
greatly missed by those who were
enlivened by her passion and
determination to improve the mental
health of children and young people in
Scotland. She leaves us to take up a
post in public health with Ayrshire and
Arran NHS.
We would like to say a big thank
you to Anne and wish her the very
best of luck in her new role!
From all her friends and colleagues