UWE as Leaders

University Mental Health Charter

Established in 2019 by the student charity, Student Minds, the University Mental Health Charter (UMHC) is a voluntary accreditation for universities.

It calls for all universities to adopt a whole–university approach to mental health, and become places that promote the mental health and wellbeing of all members of the university community.

As a Charter signatory, we’re committed to UMHC’s key aims and objectives. We continue to work collaboratively to deliver a whole university approach and to streamline Health and Wellbeing throughout UWE Bristol.

In August 2022, we submitted the UMHC award application. In our application, we clearly defined our approach and model of Student Mental Health and personalisation approaches. Then, a few months later in October 2022, we had our visit from the UMHC and Student Minds assessors. They spent time with staff and students from across our community.

The assessors were extremely impressed with some excellent practice. They noted our whole institution approach. They also saw clear evidence of strong collaborative working towards a shared ambition to put wellbeing at the heart of everything we do.

We’re now working on addressing the recommendations that came from our submission. One recommendation is helping us to develop a student outcome framework for our student services – by routinely gathering data to demonstrate that our services are safe and effective.

We already have our first pilot data through our Living Well programme. Plus an agreed project plan to implement the validated measures across student services.

Student Liaison Service NHS project

Last year, along with the University of Bristol, we were awarded £500k over two years. The money is to develop and evaluate a pilot Student Liaison Service with the NHS.

The aim here is to address the “threshold gap” for students with complex mental health issues. Students who need a greater level of support than universities alone can provide – but are not able to be seen urgently by secondary NHS services.

While putting in place governance and funding arrangements between the universities and NHS has been a slow, complex process, we’ve now agreed a governance structure under the Bristol Community Mental Health Programme Board. We’ve also agreed principles for a clinical service model with Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership. We’re aiming to launch the pilot service in autumn 2023.

Alcohol and Drugs Accreditation plan

In 2022, UWE Bristol and the Students' Union (SU) at UWE Bristol were the first university partnership to receive a national Drug and Alcohol Impact Accreditation.

Working together with external agencies, we’ve embedded social norms of responsible drinking on all our university campus sites. And we’ve worked hard to refocus the conversation on drugs towards reducing harm, and building healthier, safer, more productive student communities.

We’ve also recently employed a Drugs and Alcohol Practitioner who’ll work alongside the SU to maintain this important accreditation and review our policy.

As part of the recent Westminster Higher Education Forum, the SU’s Vice-President of Community and Welfare took part in a conference focused on tackling drug use in HE. They presented our partnership approach to building inclusive campus communities.

The SU at UWE Bristol partners with agencies across the city, including University of Bristol, Bristol City Council and Bristol Drugs Project. They share resources, expertise and ideas – with the aim of co-creating impactful city-wide behaviour change campaigns.

For the second year now, we’re an active part of the Drink Rethink programme, showing our commitment to leading the conversation on responsible drinking.

Students’ Union Welfare Committee

The Students’ Union’s Welfare Committee represents UWE Bristol students on issues around welfare, equality, diversity and inclusivity. It reports into the wider Student Council.

For 2023–24, the committee has agreed to:

  • Support the President’s team in lobbying UWE Bristol to reduce the rise in accommodation fees
  • Run a welfare stall at a Networking for Healthcare Students event at Glenside Campus to offer wellbeing goodies such as fruit, face masks and lunch boxes
  • Run a guided meditation session (with an external therapist) to provide students with the tools to reduce and manage stress
  • Support the planning and execution of the Welfare Awards, honouring students and staff that enhance student welfare provisions.

Wellbeing at Work Action Plans

Across all UWE Bristol Colleges and Professional Services, we now have ‘Wellbeing at Work Action Plans’ in place. And through twice-yearly reporting to our Health and Safety Executive Committee, we’re now able to effectively escalate health and wellbeing risks, leading to university-wide action as and when necessary.

For example, this year we identified an area of concern relating to recruitment and retention. As a result, members of our People Directorate worked with several areas and teams across the university to really understand the issues.

We identified several actions to foster and support better wellbeing – for people who already work with us and people we’d like to work with us. These included simplifying the application process, improved workforce planning, and an increased focus on market factor pay.