Arts for the Blues researchers are involved in a new mental health project for children and young people which has won £2.5million from UKRI.

The Arts4Us project will bring together the best practice in arts and arts therapies in one digital platform, making it easier for young people and their families to find crucial help. It comes at a time when one in five children and young people are struggling with their mental health as they transition from childhood to adolescence.

Vicky Karkou is Primary Investigator alongside Co-Investigators Joanna Omylinska-Thurston and Scott Thurston together with more than 50 partners from academic institutions, NHS trusts, schools and community organisations across the North West including Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, BarrowFull, Ludus, DanceSyndrome, Kendal Windows on Art, More Music, Artz Centre, Gregson Community and Arts Centre, Blaze Arts, Liverpool Learning Partnership, Alder Hey Childrens Charity Within Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Tate Liverpool, Everton in the Community, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Liverpool Lighthouse Community, Grow wellbeing, Poetry Society, Odds Arts, Savera, Pulse Regeneration, Kooth, Edge Hill University, University of Salford, University of Liverpool, Kings College, University of East Anglia, University of Lincoln, Institute of Development Studies.

See here for a short film about the project: