Just last month, David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, laid out the case for why the pandemic was taking a toll on mental health. The Young Minds March survey suggested that over 83 per cent of students with existing mental health conditions were feeling more unwell in the Covid-19 crisis. Mental health is now one of the five top priorities for the AoC. This is entirely and undisputedly the right call, pointing to a direct, immediate and likely long-term human cost of Covid-19 to which colleges will need to respond on the front line.

It is over a year since we launched the AoC Mental Health Charter, created out of the policy group. This is a coalition of college leaders and practitioners along with strategic partners such as NHS England, Public Health England, the Department for Education and third sector organisations such as Charlie Waller Memorial Trust and Mind. The aim of the charter was to acknowledge that colleges have a responsibility to create environments that promote student and staff wellbeing and proactively support good mental health. Over 150 colleges have committed to the charter. Never before has it been so tested and so essential to have a robust college mental health strategy.

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It is amazing and inspiring amid the crisis to see colleges proactively pushing forward. Staff at New College Durham have a strong focus on staff wellbeing, sharing recipes, exercise routines and increasing staff Facebook engagement for better communications. Barnsley College has held virtual student council meetings, using peer-to-peer wellbeing support and you can even virtually visit the “wellbeing pup”. Kirklees has personal mental health plans for all vulnerable students and has focused on parental engagement to support mental health, including “parents’ “walk-ins”, where parents can access support materials and practical approaches.

Coronavirus: Colleges focused on mental health

Leyton Sixth Form College has, like many colleges, continued counselling services through Easter. It has created online anxiety groups and created a “Zoom bereavement group”, and is contributing to building “psychological PPE training” with the new NHS Nightingale Hospital. Glasgow’s colleges have created a helpline staffed by college counsellors. Peterborough College reports that students have responded very positively to its weekly health and wellbeing checks and “virtual coffees”. Charlie Waller Memorial Trust is supporting colleges by launching 30-minute, bite-size CPD in mindfulness and working from home. In my own college, East Coast, we have created increased resources and support for staff with a “big book of working from home” focused on practical psychological support.

Steve Frampton, AoC president, at a recent policy group meeting, said: “Colleges and their amazing staff are doing brilliant work, and the stories shared today were uplifting. Thank you all for all you are doing to support our students, staff and communities - what inspiring stories!”

Over the coming weeks, the AoC is launching a series of mental health- and wellbeing-focused webinars. This series of six webinars will focus on topics such as remote support, staff mental health in working from home times, dealing with bereavement and transition. Richard Caulfield, policy lead at AoC, remarked: “‘Colleges have had to respond rapidly to providing all their services at a distance. What we do know is that many colleges are doing fantastic work to support students and staff alike that we can all learn from, and that there are expert organisations who have expertise that can help.’

Despite the huge work done by colleges, there remains a latent significant risk of the longer-term effects of Covid-19 on mental health. Concerns around mental health inequalities, especially in disadvantaged groups, must be at the forefront of our minds. This, combined with emerging risks created by isolation and the child and adolescent mental health services’ thresholds rising due to limited capacity, means the (unpaid and often unrecognised)  role of colleges supporting mental health and wellbeing increasingly becomes our collective top priority.

Stuart Rimmer is chief executive at East Coast College and chair of the Association of Colleges’ Mental Health Portfolio Group