Oxfordshire Discovery College celebrates second anniversary
In the week of World Mental Health Day 2019, the first college in the county to support children and young people with mental health issues was officially launched. Two years later Oxfordshire Discovery College (ODC) is reflecting upon its journey so far, formally supported by Elmore Community Services as its ‘energiser’.
The Discovery College is for children and young people who might be struggling with mental health and wellbeing. It’s also for their friends from school or anywhere else, for their parents, carers, siblings, wider family, and for the staff and volunteers helping them to get better or stay well.
As ‘energiser’, Elmore has adopted the College until it is strong and developed enough to stand on its own. By legally sitting under Elmore’s umbrella, the College has lots of things taken care of (like insurance, payroll, and pension schemes) which enable the College to stay focused on becoming an independent Charity in its own right. Elmore has been supporting the College for the last two years because we believe in it and look forward to seeing the model develop in line with our shared values.
In the last two years, ODC has achieved the following:
ODC and the University of Oxford Micro-Internship Scheme worked together in 2019 to complete a report that found referrals to Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in Oxfordshire rocketed by 80% between 2011-2017. The services currently available were mapped and it was identified that a Discovery College was needed to fill the gaps and could help local families to improve their mental health.
At the start of 2020, Oxfordshire Discovery College had prepared to deliver 7 pop-up pilots to test its approach with a cross-section of children and young people and had been awarded funding for the first pilot to take place. By March 2020, ODC’s first paid staff had been fully recruited, written the first programme, and delivered the first session to 10 children in a Witney primary school. When lockdown measures began, all delivery had to be suspended because the primary school in Witney closed.
During this period of lockdown, ODC pivoted to creating a Working Group of stakeholders (parents or carers for young people with mental health problems, people with their own lived experience of child or adolescent ill health, professionals working in the sector). Five local people volunteer their time and expertise to steer the College and guide strategic decisions at this formative time.
In August and September 2020 ODC’s founder walked the 200 mile Coast-to-Coast route in 12 days to raise funds for the College. ODC raised around £1,800 and, during the lockdowns, miles of walks were donated by supporters (they walked a collective 300 miles before the real walk even began).
ODC launched Youth In Lockdown in partnership with the Oxford Poetry Library and Open House Oxford. Around 100 submissions were received from young people aged 8-23 from across Oxfordshire, expressing in a wide range of creative formats their experiences of the pandemic. This collection has since been exhibited at the Freeborn Gallery.
ODC appointed their first Patron, the musician Rhys Lewis. In partnership with Rhys ODC hosted a 4-week remote Record Club on social media, receiving song selections from local businesses and young people internationally. The response was staggering and a song choice was even received from DJ Fearne Cotton.
After being nominated by a student and a teacher, the Dragon School in Oxford kindly donated £1,650 in November to support the work of ODC. This money enables ODC to connect with young people who are struggling more than ever to look after their mental health.
The College and the University of Oxford Micro-Internship Scheme worked together again in 2020. Two Micro-Interns, Sofia and Deniz, joined ODC to take over their social media, create and queue posts, and co-write a communications plan. Two additional Micro-Interns Alan and Catrin later came on board to collate research into commonly-used activities (like mindfulness and art) to strengthen ODC’s evidence base.
Find out more about Oxfordshire Discovery College by visiting their website here.