Mental Health and Wellbeing

What is this mission about?

This mission is about improving Londoners’ access to support and resources which can benefit their own wellbeing and enable them to take a more active role in supporting the wellbeing of those around them.

This is particularly important for Londoners whose wellbeing is worse or at greater risk, including those who face barriers to engaging with activities that can help them to feel better – such as older, disabled or minority ethnic Londoners.

We are currently working with partners to define and scope this mission further.

Why are we doing this?

Wellbeing is about ‘how we’re doing’ as individuals, as communities and as a city.

The pandemic has had a huge impact on many Londoners’ mental wellbeing.

This was recognised in our conversations on Talk London in summer 2020. Mental health and wellbeing was the single most talked about health issue for recovery.

The data shows it too, with reduced life satisfaction, increases in low mood and anxiety, and higher levels of loneliness seen since the pandemic began. While the vaccine rollout and end of restrictions are a positive step for many, for some Londoners the negative impacts of the pandemic on mental wellbeing will be longer term.

All these impacts have been felt most by those Londoners and communities that entered the pandemic already in a position of disadvantage. It has widened existing inequalities and shone a light on others. This is also true in terms of mental wellbeing: for some people the pandemic has been one of many challenges, only adding to people’s negative feelings. There is no easy fix, and no ‘one size fits all’ model.

Activity to support wellbeing is already happening all around us – across and within communities, in workplaces, on high streets and in many more places besides. There is much to learn here and to build on.

To recover from the economic, social and health impacts of the pandemic, London's Recovery Programme has set out a missions-based approach. This will bring together the public, private and voluntary sectors, and involves working with all Londoners to make it a success.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing mission aims to enable and empower Londoners to improve their own and their communities’ wellbeing, particularly those whose wellbeing is worse or at greater risk.

The mission will improve access to support, resources and ideas. It will provide support to Londoners who want to take forward activity to improve the wellbeing of their communities.

We’ll work closely with communities and local partners to understand what would be of most value to them.

The mission has four themes:

1. empowering individuals to support their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of others
2. enhancing and supporting community activities and networks that benefit wellbeing
3. equipping people in places and settings to support wellbeing
4. building support infrastructure, like a network and digital hub.

It is important to recognise the range of opportunities in other missions that will have a positive impact on wellbeing.

Short-term actions:

• Continue to share and promote new wellbeing resource pages available on the Thrive LDN website as part of the mission’s Wellbeing Campaign.
• Work with faith and community partners to develop culturally competent bereavement resources as part of our ongoing Bereavement Support Programme.
• Scope how existing community champion models can inform and be developed to train and upskill communities on mental health and wellbeing. Design and deliver a workshop in July 2022.
• Develop and embed principles to support the wellbeing champion definition.
• Continue rolling out training for London councillors and mental health champions to support their own mental health and effect change within their local communities.
• Continue to identify, consolidate and commission the development of bespoke mental wellbeing training offers to help people support their own wellbeing and that of others.
• Continue to listen to Londoners as we define our long-term goals and plans for achieving them, including how we will measure the progress and impact of the mission.
• Work closely with other recovery missions and cross-cutting principles to identify opportunities for improving wellbeing.
• Embed learning from local authorities and voluntary and community sector organisations around what is happening locally and where the opportunities to build on locally driven activity are.

Mission co-leads:

• Kevin Fenton – Public Health England London (PHE London) and the Mayor’s statutory advisor
• Will Tuckley – LB Tower Hamlets

Lead organisations and partners:

Thrive LDN, PHE, GLA, London Councils, local authorities (including public health teams), voluntary and community sector organisations.