Healthy Minds

Before the pandemic, poor mental health was already considered one of the biggest challenges facing London. These issues were especially prevalent in communities that were already dealing with a lot of unfairness and inequality. 

With the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and global events putting significant pressures on Londoner’s mental health, it’s never been more important that people can access opportunities and resources to support themselves and each other.  

Since he took office in 2016, the Mayor and partners have been responding to Londoners’ need for more targeted training to support each other through unprecedented times. Together, they enabled access to mental health training and resources for hundreds of thousands of Londoners, through campaigns like #ZeroSuicideLDN, Youth Mental Health First Aid and #ChampionMentalHealth. 

Here are some of the key achievements:

• Hundreds of thousands of Londoners have participated in or engaged with training, events, resources and campaigns. Through the Mayor’s #ChampionMentalHealth campaign, more Londoners are able access support and resources to look after their own wellbeing - and, importantly, feel more confident in supporting others’ wellbeing as well. Find out more here.
• Since the launch of the #ZeroSuicideLDN campaign, more than 380,000 Londoners have taken suicide awareness training, learning how to support conversations, reduce stigma and signpost sources of support. Do you have 20 minutes? Take the training and help save a life.
• Youth Mental Health First Aid has been rolled out to 4,000 education and youth sector staff, helping them spot signs and symptoms and be confident in talking to children and young people about their mental health.
• Suicide prevention training has also been delivered across 350 Further and Higher Education settings. 
• Since 2019, the Mayor has invested over £500,000 in the Right to Thrive initiative, funding community and grassroots projects to support the mental health and wellbeing of marginalised Londoners.
• Thousands of Londoners have been connected to wellbeing resources and support through the Help Yourself and Others webpage developed in partnership with Thrive LDN.
• More than 5,000 Londoners have equipped themselves with the skills to better support themselves and others experiencing financial struggles.