Social Sense has won a competitive tender to deliver Mindfulness Training across 9 districts in Kent over 4 years.

Working in partnership with leading Mindfulness trainers Breathworks, the contract will see around 1300 school teachers, early help, health, and youth workers being trained to Awareness level with almost 150 moving to Intensive and Train the Trainer levels.

The contract has been awarded as part of the £9.9 million award from The Big Lottery Fund to the Kent County Council HeadStart programme. The Big Lottery Fund is funding 6 HeadStart projects across the country including Kent.

HeadStart Kent will focus on a young person’s experiences at school, their ability to access community services, their home life and relationship with their family and their use of digital technology.

Following a soft launch in August – training will officially begin in Gravesham and Swale in September, spreading over the 9 districts, and concluding in Dover in 2021.

The Mindfulness Training levels:

As part of the agreement, Kent qualified training graduates will be able to access and deliver Mindflow quality assured courses from a secure online portal. They will also be able to access ongoing supervision and support, working with assigned mentors to continue their professional development beyond the project.

The profile of Mindfulness has grown considerably over the last few years in line with the evidence base supporting the prevention or improvement of early stage mental health problems. From an early intervention perspective, practicing Mindfulness is proven to help young people build their resilience in dealing with every day stresses and anxieties including social media, relationships, and exams.

The Department of Health Government report “Future in Mind” published in 2015 noted the importance of promoting good mental wellbeing and resilience, by supporting children and young people and their families to adopt and maintain behaviours that support good mental health. The Mindfulness approach achieves this.

Social Sense estimates that over 45,000 young people in Kent over 5 years, will benefit from the training and the subsequent on-delivery of courses within schools and other youth settings.

Managing Director Gary Lovatt says:

“We are delighted to have been chosen alongside our partners Breathworks to deliver this important project in Kent.

We’re passionate about helping to drive forward a Mindfulness culture in schools and community based youth settings, bringing parents, teachers and young people together behind this evidence-based practice.

This opportunity will help thousands of new people at all ages to unlock tools and techniques that can measurably improve their ability to relax, cope and make better choices through their lives. We are very excited about our chosen role in achieving that.”

David Weiss from the Kent HeadStart Kent team said:

“We are pleased to welcome Social Sense as our Delivery Partner for the Mindfulness Training. It is an important part of HeadStart Kent’s programme to improve the mental health and resilience of young people across Kent.”

For more information or to arrange an Interview, contact Gary Lovatt on 0161 2164080 / 07909 847130 or email [email protected]

If you are a Kent based school or community based youth setting looking to find out more about getting involved, email [email protected] or call 07718149592.

For Headstart Kent contact [email protected]