THREE West Somerset schools will be taking part in a pilot project to help improve mental health services for children around the country.

The three, all based in Minehead, will be among ten Somerset schools taking part after Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) successfully bid for £50,000 to fund the mental health pilot scheme.

Somerset’s bid was chosen from more than 80 applications as part of £3 million government funding for 22 pilot areas across the country to improve mental health services for children in 255 schools.

The West Somerset schools taking part include West Somerset College, Minehead Middle and Minehead First Schools.

The pilot project is a result of the Future in Mind report, which made a number of proposals on how mental health services could be improved, including for children and young people.

It is being run with NHS England and will help Somerset Partnership’s Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and the ten schools involved, to promote rapid and better access to support in Taunton, Bridgwater and Minehead.

A specially trained single point of contact in the schools will be responsible for developing closer relationships with a counterpart in Somerset Partnership’s CAMHS services to improve knowledge and understanding of mental health issues.

Together they will work to promote greater clarity about support and resources for children’s emotional health and well-being, and to help ensure any referrals to CAMHS are timely and appropriate.

Andy Heron, interim chief executive of Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I am pleased Somerset Partnership has been selected to trial this single point of contact in ten of our local schools.

“The subject of mental health is still a delicate one in our society.

“The earlier we can get children to feel comfortable enough to talk about and recognise any emotional problems and mental health issues, the earlier we can treat them and the better the chances of recovery.”

Deborah Howard, Somerset CCG and Somerset County Council’s joint head of mental health services, said: “This provides an excellent opportunity to assist children and young people at a time in their lives when some may struggle with social and emotional problems.

“As a pilot area, we want to see what type of support works best and share our learning with the rest of the NHS in England.”

The work will be evaluated nationally to understand the impact of joint working and a national conference held to share learning and good practice.