The University Mental Health Charter (MHC) was created by Student Minds through consultation with thousands of university staff and students. The MHC Framework provides a set of evidence-informed principles to support universities to adopt a whole-university approach to mental health and wellbeing, create cultural change and demonstrate excellent practice.

The Charter Framework is divided into 18 themes, grouped under the Work, Learn, Live and Support domains:

The University is in the process of working towards the University Mental Health Charter Award to achieve recognition for our excellent practice and support ongoing improvement. As part of that process we have undertaken an audit of our existing provision against the guidance in the Mental Health Charter.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Working Group have been leading on the development of an action plan to ensure the University is meeting the guidance outlined in the charter. This includes working with students and staff in developing our provision and evaluating the services to ensure they are effective.

We carried out an extensive review of our progress towards the principles, identifying both good practice and areas for improvement, and submitted our Self-Assessment report to Student Minds in February 2024. Following a review of the submission, an Assessment Team visited the University for the On-Site visit on 17-18 April 2024 where they had the opportunity to speak to staff and students to enable them to better understand the University’s approach, our strengths, examples of good practice and challenges we face.

The On-Site visit involved over 60 members of University staff from academic and professional services across the university as well as some of our home and international students. At the end of the visit, the Assessment Team fed back that the University clearly has very motivated staff who are passionate about supporting both students and staff wellbeing.

The next steps will be for Students Minds to provide the University with a tailored improvement report, highlighting excellent practice and making recommendations for further development. They will then advise whether the University’s progress to date and future plans merit a Charter Award.

The University is engaging with a diverse range of staff and students across the University, including the Students’ Union, with a view to capturing where we are now, reflecting on how we deliver what we do and identifying where we can improve.

There are many ways that staff and students can get involved. Whether this is by student and staff surveys, student and staff groups, the staff and students' unions, training courses, workshops, and other activities. 

You can also get in touch with one of our Domain Theme Leads or Helen Randall (Project Manager) if you would like to contribute to improving the mental health and wellbeing of our community.