Programme to monitor young people’s wellbeing in Greater Manchester to be rolled out elsewhere after publishing second year of findings

The #BeeWell programme to monitor and improve the wellbeing of young people in Greater Manchester is set to be rolled out to four other local authorities in England.

The programme originates from a collaboration between the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, University of Manchester, the Anna Freud Centre and the Gregson Family Foundation, and is set to be launched in the HIPS (Hampshire, The Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton) Integrated Care System area from September 2023, building on experiences and learning in Greater Manchester, and national endorsements from the Fair Education Alliance and Times Education Commission.

The #BeeWell programme aims to next see the measures to prioritise young people’s wellbeing across all of England by 2030.

On March 23rd, #BeeWell published the findings of its second survey into young people’s wellbeing, which heard from year 9 and 10 students from across Greater Manchester.

The survey identified inequalities in wellbeing that persisted from the previous year’s inaugural study. Headline findings identified that girls reported significantly lower levels of wellbeing that boys, and LGBTQ+ young people had lower wellbeing than their straight peers.

In response to the findings from the #BeeWell survey the #BeeWell Coalition of Partners and Greater Manchester schools have already begun to take action to respond to what young people across the city-region are saying. This includes investment to support the wellbeing of LGBTQ+ young people, encouraging girls to get involved in physical activity, and the completion of a social prescribing and youth-led investment pilot in five neighbourhoods of Greater Manchester.

Cllr Mark Hunter, Greater Manchester Portfolio Lead for Young People and Leader of Stockport Council said:

“The #BeeWell surveys have facilitated a real breakthrough in conversations about young people’s health, wellbeing, and activity. The results have helped to shape some important changes in Greater Manchester to support young people and their wellbeing.

“This year’s findings show that more action needs to be taken to tackle the inequalities in wellbeing between girls and boys, and with LGBTQ+ young people.

“The support of Greater Manchester’s schools has been integral to #BeeWell, Year 2 of the survey has shown how schools have used the survey results to make positive changes for their pupils. I am looking forward to Year 3 of the survey and the positive changes the results will initiate.”

Professor Neil Humphrey, #BeeWell’s Academic Lead said:

“Our latest set of findings reinforce the value of the #BeeWell programme and highlight once more the need for action to tackle inequalities experienced by vulnerable and marginalised groups. 

“We have a 10-year plan to take #BeeWell to scale nationally and create a public policy agenda for young people that gives equal weight to wellbeing and attainment.  The next step of this plan is our expansion to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System area. 

“This is critical to understanding local variation, issues of sustainability, scaling up, and synergy.  The learning generated will inform the development of the #BeeWell model to ensure our approach can be embedded and sustained across wider geographies over time, as we seek to fulfil our mission of making young people’s wellbeing everybody’s business.”