Government doubles funding to charities tackling bullying in schools

Five charities awarded £1m government funding last year to tackle bullying in schools are to see their grants doubled.

The government awarded the charities, including the National Children’s Bureau and the Anne Frank Trust, the funding last November to support schools and provide training in combating bullying.

This week ministers have said that “after a successful first six months” the five charities will receive an additional £1m “to continue the rollout of training and support programmes until March 2023”.

The other charities involved are Diversity Role Models, Equaliteach and the Diana Award.

The funding will focus on tackling bullying against children who identify as LGBT, with special educational needs and disabilities and victims of hate related bullying.

The funding announcement has been made to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week and as part of wider plans to support schools to address bullying. This includes an additional £7m for schools and colleges to train a senior mental health lead, bringing the total for this initiative to £10m.

Today @educationgovuk announced £10m funding to identify & train senior mental health leads in schools

This is a welcome step forward in recognising the mental health needs of young people, and we encourage schools to take up the offer.

More details 👉 https://t.co/ZCx78YQS6S pic.twitter.com/mrww32Uxk3
— National Children's Bureau (@ncbtweets) May 12, 2022

Charities minister Nigel Huddleston said: “We know our young people are disproportionately affected by loneliness.

“Mental Health Awareness Week is an important moment for everyone to do what they can to help and this £10 million investment from the government will ensure more students will have access to mental health pathways in our schools.”