It’s hard for students to have a good day if educators are having a bad one.

Improving staff wellbeing and mental health is an important issue in and of itself. Yet, recent research indicates that university staff have higher levels of stress and burnout than the general population and lower levels of mental wellbeing.

There is a strong relationship between staff and student wellbeing as universities are, in effect, an ecosystem in which the wellbeing of one group can affect another. This is recognised in the competently composed University Mental Health Charter (UMHC) where a whole-university framework is provided. Yet since its launch in 2019,only a third of UK universities have so far signed up. This is despite the directive, in response to the parliamentary debate on whether a legal duty of care be introduced to help tackle student suicides, from the Office of the Government Minister of State for HE that all UK HEIs be participants in the Charter Mark by Sep 2024.

The Caring on Campus initiative within LifeRoute understands that both root and branch strategies are required, and where new pathways are needed in order to better harness and direct the excellent resources such as the UMHC that seem to be left lying on stony ground. We urgently need to keep the spotlight on this and because we understand how your time is in short supply, we can offer free capacity to help enable what needs to be done. Just get in touch.