Inspirational student counselling service wins honour
The Student Counselling Service's Skills for Life and Learning programme took home the Student Wellbeing Award at The Herald Higher Education Awards 2024 hosted in Glasgow.
The project, which provides workshops to help students on a variety of topics, was praised for its innovation and the impressive rate at which people signed up for it.
The team's achievement was hailed as an example of their dedication and excellence within their sector, and to the wider Scottish higher education establishment.
University counselling services from across the UK have voiced their interest in the programme, and researchers at the University of Deusto in Spain used one workshop as a case study in best practice.
The rate of growth for this innovative project is remarkable, and although it still services a minority of students overall, the type of support on offer, and the interest from outside the UK, made this scheme from the University of Edinburgh stand out.
The online workshops are run in groups for up to 30 students and help them cope with issues like managing stress, improving sleep and overcoming procrastination.
Lasting 75 minutes they contain input from the facilitator as well as small group discussions and individual exercises for reflection and practice.
The Student Wellbeing Award was sponsored by Studiosity and presented at The Herald's Higher Education Awards.
Empowering students to participate in maintaining and improving their mental health sets the foundation not only for academic success, but also to support self-esteem, personal resilience and self-confidence, with increased ability to sustain good mental health throughout life.