A new Mental Health Ambassador (MHA) group has been formed in school to help promote positive mental health. While boys from across school told us that they know where to go and what to do when things go wrong, they also fed back that they would welcome more guidance from their peers on how to support their positive mental health.
Under the lead of Amanda Horlick-Coutts, Lead School Counsellor, eight boys, across all year groups, have come forward to become Mental Health Ambassadors, with more boys showing interest in joining. Their main aim is to connect with peers, to not only promote positive mental health but also raise awareness and reduce stigma. 
Pui Lam, one of the MHA, explained, “I wanted to be a mental health ambassador because I know some people who struggle with their mental health can be afraid to speak out. Therefore, I want to ensure everyone at school can be healthy mentally, so everyone can get the best out of themselves.”
Throughout the school year, our Citizenship Curriculum seeks to erase any stigma around boys expressing emotion and talking openly about their feelings – and this is a particular focus during Movember. However, the MHAs want to help in keeping up this momentum all year round.
Talking about the new ambassadors, Amanda Horlick-Coutts told us, “I see this as an exciting opportunity to normalise struggle, to provide peer to peer guidance which is, at times, more relatable than teacher-peer guidance, and to offer advice both when pupils are in distress and when they are mentally well.”
Upper Sixth Former Toby L’Estrange, who is an MHA, explained, “I want to make the school an even better place, where everyone feels confident finding help, feels safe and doesn’t feel alone.”
What will the MHAs do?
Since the MHAs’ first meeting in October, they have had a number of productive discussions about what the school does well in terms of supporting pupil mental health and what can be improved on. They felt it was important to promote the counselling service and offer peer to peer guidance and advice on supporting positive mental health.
These were covered in an assembly, delivered by Lower Sixth Formers Pui Lam Ng and Kona Dlomu and Upper Sixth Former Toby L’Estrange, just before the Christmas break. The boys will continue this advice via a new Instagram page: @bedfordschool_wellbeing. Please do give it a follow.
Looking ahead, the MHAs have identified several opportunities to get involved in various parts of the school.
Lower Sixth Former Kona Dlomu, who was one of the MHAs who delivered the assembly, said, “We will be frequently posting on the Bedford School Wellbeing Instagram page and we’re planning to collaborate with the Mental Health Ambassador group at Bedford Girls’ School. We also plan to lead assemblies promoting positive mental health in the Prep School.”