Today, 10 October, is World Mental Health Day.

Last year KCLSU & King’s committed to reducing mental health discrimination and stigma and improving provision at our Students’ Union and university. Research shows that students have poorer mental health than the non-student population and that formal provision of mental health support is not able to reach all of us. As students we face a high number of challenges: academic pressure and concerns about future employability, the HE academic environment, accessing support and managing the transition to university.

Support that comes from our friends and the people around us is vital in survival, recovery and wellbeing. This support is based on shared lives and experiences, learning and growing together. These are relationships which give us the power to grow beyond difficult experiences to find a new sense of meaning, value and purpose in life.

Last year some of our groups and societies put on events and activities to support the wellbeing of King’s students, through accessing funding from KCLSU.

This year KCLSU is undertaking a project to make sure that we have the tools, resources, training and confidence to support each other in our groups and communities. We think it’s really important for students to access support within the groups and communities where we learn, work and socialise.

We'll be talking about this throughout the year, and telling you more about what is happening and how you can get involved.