09.02.11: Success For PEF Partner Charity

PEF partner charity The Place2Be have been presented with the Public Health Wales National Good Practice Award in the category Mental Health Promotion. The Public Health Wales Good Practice Scheme recognises good practice initiatives in the fields of nutrition, physical activity, mental health promotion and sexual health.

The judging panel presented the award on the grounds that ‘The Place2Be is an exemplary initiative from which there is huge learning potential.’ They commended, ‘ the model of delivery, the high standard of monitoring and evaluation, the strategic insight, the credible economic analysis and the potential impact on the critical arena of early years development.’

The Place2Be also celebrated the news that the three primary schools in Cardiff to gain Healthy School awards in the Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing category all invest in The Place2Be, the service is based in these schools and available to all their pupils and teachers.

This follows the announcement that The Place2Be have been awarded a grant by the Big Lottery to run their Foundation Programme in Cardiff which will enable The Place2Be to start building their new ‘Centre of Excellence’ where they can share their learning through training.

Catherine Roche COO of The Place2Be said:

“These are great achievements for the hub and the 2,000 children and families that we are currently supporting - especially as we have only been operating in Cardiff since April 2009. We are therefore thrilled that The Place2Be has been recognised in Wales at this level so early on in our service delivery and that the organisation continues to be acknowledged nationwide as a leading model of good practice.”

The Place2Be works inside schools to improve the emotional wellbeing of children, their families and the whole school community. The help given to primary school children and their parents tackle problems early and improve the children's self esteem and coping skills. The Place2Be helps children who have worries on their mind and who can't take on learning, or form healthy relationships, who come to school and sometimes display angry behaviour, or withdrawn children who have experienced a breakdown in the family life, or bereavement. With the funding from PEF they are working towards their 10-year strategy to support 150,000 children a year in 250 schools by 2017.