The Dumfries and Galloway Youth Work Service and Educational Psychology Service jointly deliver a project to provide young people with access to low-level mental health support in schools across Dumfries and Galloway. In 2022 YouthLink Scotland, Northern Star and University of St Andrews were commissioned to conduct an external, independent evaluation of the programme.

Through the qualitative analysis, the evaluation found that the impact of the Low-Level Mental Health in Schools Project on young people included:

• Developing skills for wellbeing – including learning how to open up and share feelings, self-awareness and learning coping strategies and tools.
• Improving health and wellbeing – including increased confidence and self-esteem and feeling listed to.
• Positive change – including improved relationships, improved attitudes about and attendance at school.

Wider impacts of the project include: