SW AHSN’s Bid Support Helps Secure £150,000 of Health Education England Funding for Plymouth

The South West Academic Health Science Network (SW AHSN) has recently supported the Progeny Plus bid, which has secured £150,000 of funding from Health Education England’s education and training fund.

Progeny Plus will deliver bespoke training on understanding the mental health needs of children and young people with additional vulnerabilities, to 1,500 people such as teachers, teaching staff, GPs, health professionals and voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) service-providers in Plymouth.

The collaborative bid was led by The Zone – Youth Enquiry Service, with partners Plymouth & District MIND, Beacon Medical Group and Young Devon. Plymouth City Council’s commissioning team supported the bid as part of their early intervention approach and workforce development.

The SW AHSN identified and circulated the funding opportunity as well as reviewing the draft bid response and providing bid submission and procurement portal support.

Mobilisation for Progeny Plus has commenced and the training will be delivered from Autumn 2017 to Spring 2018.

Stuart Monk, Interim Director of Innovation of the SW AHSN said: “The SW AHSN are pleased to have supported the collaborative Progeny Plus bid, which will do great work in upskilling the mental health training of different professionals in the Plymouth area.”

Mike Jarman, CEO, The Zone said: “The Zone Plymouth is delighted to be leading on this project in collaboration with the mentioned agencies. For us, this is a real opportunity for our city. We are hopeful that collaborative working such as this continues into the future.”

Claire Oatway, COO, Beacon Medical Group said: “Beacon Medical Group are thrilled to be working in collaboration with the above groups. We hope that these partnerships continue to grow and develop in the future. Our GP liaison coordinator will be in touch with all Plymouth GP practices to arrange teaching sessions. These will be adapted for primary care staff, mainly focusing on how best to communicate with these vulnerable groups and how best to signpost them to locally available support.”

Olivia Craig, CEO, Plymouth & District MIND said: “We are delighted to be involved in this project and will be responsible for delivering training to over 1,500 participants in Plymouth. Raising awareness and understanding of the mental health issues faced by our young people is a big challenge, but a vital one also. We have over 30 years’ experience in this field, and we are looking forward to using that experience to support our teachers, health professionals, and voluntary sector workers to better understand the mental health of our young people.”

Ros Arscott, Head of Service for Information, Advice & Rights, Young Devon said: “We are excited to be working alongside our Progeny plus partners and recognise the work that has gone into pulling ideas and skills together across the partnership leading to a successful application.”

Terri Beer, Plymouth City Council Councillor and Cabinet Member for Children and Young people said: “We are pleased to support funding applications like this as part of our commissioning approach to deliver the right support at the right time for some of our most vulnerable children and young people.”

If you are interested in finding out more about Progeny plus, please contact Jodie Frost, Progeny Plus lead on jodie.frost@thezoneplymouth.co.uk

If you are working on a health and care funding opportunity and would like to find out more on how the SW AHSN can support your bid then please contact David Wright, Bid Development Manager via email: david.wright@swahsn.com or telephone: 01392 247903.