About Us

Headstart was introduced in Middlesbrough in 2013 as a Public Health South Tees initiative with the vision to –

‘Give all children and young people in South Tees the necessary support to build resilience to achieve good emotional health’

This ambitious programme seeks to do this by:

• Supporting children and  young people aged 0-19 to cope in better in difficult circumstances and do well in school and in life.
• Building resilience in children and young people to prevent the onset of common mental health problems.
• Learning from different approaches and contribute to an evidence base for investment in prevention and early intervention.
• Developing an early intervention and prevention model to provide support in school, at home, in the community and virtually.
• Developing a co-production model with children and their families.

Predicated on evidence-based resilience therapy (Hart and Blincow)

HeadStart delivery comprises:

• Training for professionals to upskill and inform
• Quality audits to embed a resilient approach across organisations
• HeadStarters – emotional wellbeing training
• Mental Health Leads in Schools and networks to support whole school approaches
• Interventions for children and young people to provide help at an early stage
• Information, advice and guidance through this website, social media, newsletters etc.