The University of West London (UWL), its Students’ Union, and West London NHS Trust have teamed up to offer tailored mental health and wellbeing workshops for minoritised ethnic (ME) students over the next two years.

Funded by the Office for Students, the project will deliver co-produced workshops from the Trust’s Recovery College in Brentford, making use of virtual learning and peer support schemes to offer students a safe and supportive space to speak openly about mental health challenges.

The move forms part of UWL’s ongoing work to help students remain in education and fulfil their potential – particularly those who consider leaving due to mental health concerns.  

It will also help address national figures which show that black people are more likely to drop out of university courses than their white or Asian counterparts.    

Encouraging early intervention and support, the project will work with eight groups including Asian Indian students, Black men, Muslim students, and LGBTQ+ students from different ethnic backgrounds.

Michael Cobden Project Lead and Head of Wellbeing at UWL, said:

UWL has one of the country’s most diverse student populations, and this project will help us work together and deliver racial and culturally competent support to our BAME communities.

For too long, mental health support has been a one box fits all approach, but our aim is to radically redesign the way mental health and wellbeing support is offered to different ethnic communities, here at UWL and across the country.

Carolyn Regan, Chief Executive at West London NHS Trust, said:

We’re delighted to be working with the University of West London. It’s really important for young people to have good access to mental health support and resources when they need them.

We know that early intervention, focused on those who need it most can help young people stay in education.

Chris Millward, director for fair access and participation at the Office for Students, said:

Having a mental health condition should not be a barrier to success in higher education, but for many students this is still the case.

We look forward to working with these projects to develop and evaluate innovative and collaborative approaches to targeted support for student mental health, and to support the take-up of this learning for the benefit of students in all parts of the sector.