Empowering youth to proactively manage their mental wellbeing
Local grant programs
Our local grant programs initiative provides practical support and funding to help Zurich business units initiate long-term, strategic relationships with local community organizations. Read more on each program below.
The impact figures have been rounded to the nearest hundred.
Asia Pacific
Australia - Empowering sports clubs to champion youth mental wellbeing
Implementation partner: Tackle Your Feelings, AFL Coaches Association, and AFL Players Association
Grant duration: 2019 - 2027
Projected impact: 535,000 people
Tackle Your Feelings is a free mental health initiative for community football and netball players, coaches, umpires, committee members, and support staff. Delivered by a local psychologist, it aims to help participants contribute to transforming the way clubs understand and embrace their role in providing a safe environment for the mental wellbeing of young people. In the current phase, the program expects to positively impact some 250,000 lives.
Building on previous work supporting individual coaches and committee members to reduce stigma, raise awareness and change behaviors, TYF Australia now plans to take a whole-of-club approach. The aim is to drive sustainable change, helping leaders throughout the community club ecosystem to apply strategy and resources to proactively support mental wellbeing in the same way as physical health.
Hong Kong - Changing the picture on mental wellbeing for youth
Implementation partner: Mental Health Association of HK (MHAHK)
Grant duration: 2023 - 2026
Projected impact: 191,000 people
An innovative program using experiential technology and the power of community to change attitudes and behaviors and build a supportive ecosystem of teachers and parents.
The program will be delivered in Chinese and English, expecting to reach 58% of secondary schools in Hong Kong. A well-built evaluation process will demonstrate effectiveness. Combined with MHAHK's existing relationships at institutional level, this is the basis for further scaling and change.
New Zealand - A school-wide approach to mental health education
Implementation partner: Sir John Kirwan Foundation, Zurich New Zealand
Grant duration: 2023 - 2026
Projected impact: 55,300 people
A two-year grant to improve the mental health and wellbeing of New Zealand’s primary and high school students with Sir John Kirwan Foundation and Zurich New Zealand.
This grant supports Mitey, a school-wide approach to mental health education, bringing teachers, students and communities together around a common goal – mentally thriving children. Mitey is being rolled out to schools in Auckland and is set to go nationwide reaching thousands of students and positively impacting the lives of tens of thousands of people (teachers, students and their families).
Europe, Middle East, and Africa
Germany - Embedding mental wellbeing into academic institutions
Implementation partner: Dragonfly
Grant duration: 2025 - 2027
Projected impact: 15,000 people
This pilot program will pave the way to a sustainable and scalable mental health ecosystem that transforms how universities and academic institutions in Germany approach and support mental wellbeing for their students.
By embedding comprehensive mental wellbeing frameworks into these academic environments, the program fosters a culture where mental wellbeing is prioritized, destigmatized, and actively supported at every level.
Ireland - Inspiring youth to take control of their mental wellbeing
Implementation partner: Tackle Your Feelings, Rugby Players Ireland, Zurich Ireland
Grant duration: 2015 - 2027
Projected impact: 418,000 people
Building on its original mission to support youth to proactively look after their mental wellbeing, Tackle Your Feelings (TYF) now aspires to enact change in the national education system and become the premier mental wellbeing program in secondary schools across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
TYF Schools is a free, classroom-based life skills development course led by
teachers that enables students to build healthy habits and practical tools for building resilience, emotional intelligence, and positive mental wellbeing. The journey is enriched by personal insights from some of Ireland’s top rugby players, creating a relatable and inspiring experience for students and young people.
Ireland - Supporting innovative solutions across a full spectrum of mental health initiatives
Implementation partner: Rethink Ireland, Health Service Executive
Grant duration: 2023 - 2026
Projected impact: 106,800 people
This three year fund - the Headstart Fund will support organizations and projects working within the mental wellbeing space.
The fund will work to build the capacity and resilience of not-for-profit organizations, by providing cash grants and capacity-building support to social innovations that have proof of impact, a desire to scale, and who are innovatively working to enhance, sustain and/or intervene in the mental health of young people living in Ireland.
Poland - Placing mental wellbeing at the heart of public systems
Implementation Partner: Hearty Foundation
Grant duration: 2026 - 2028
Projected impact: 20,500 people
The ambition of Minds Ahead Poland is to create systemic, sustainable change by embedding preventative and inclusive practices that strengthen resilience and normalize conversations about mental wellbeing.
The program combines direct interventions, such as emotional literacy workshops and peer support groups with ecosystem-level actions like capacity building for educators, digital resources, and youth-led advocacy campaigns.
In the longer term, these activities aim to transform how schools, communities, and public systems respond to mental health needs, ensuring lasting impact beyond the grant period.
Portugal - Supporting students, teachers and families in developing emotional regulation skills
Implementation partner: EPIS
Grant duration: 2022 - 2026
Projected impact: 118,800 people
Por ti (“For you”) promotes emotional resilience among secondary school students across Portugal. Supported by Z Zurich Foundation and delivered with EPIS, the University of Coimbra, and Zurich Portugal’s volunteer club Missão Azul, the program helps students, families, and teachers manage emotions and access timely support.
In its launch phase, Por ti reached 389 public schools across 158 municipalities, representing 48% of all public school groupings and 52% of municipalities nationwide. By involving schools, families, policymakers, and academia, the program is helping shape how mental wellbeing is integrated into the education system.
In 2025, Por ti received a silver award from the Portuguese Association of Business Ethics and became an accredited teacher‑training program, strengthening its role in building a more supportive and responsive school environment.
Implementation partner: IPčko
Grant duration: 2026 - 2028
Projected impact: 86,000 people
The program’s ambition is to make mental wellbeing a natural part of life, increase young people's resilience to stress and anxiety, and ensure that teachers, caregivers and youth have the necessary skills to recognize and manage mental wellbeing without stigma.
A comprehensive, multi-channel mental wellbeing support system across eastern Slovakia, it specifically targets youth aged 13 to 30. The system has long-term resilience built in, thanks to three integrated levers: capacity building, policy advocacy, and sustainable infrastructure meeting young people where they are.
Implementation partner: Betania
Grant duration: 2026 - 2028
Projected impact: 4,400 people
Supporting children and young people affected by the 2024 flooding in Valencian communities, this project seeks to build on immediate crisis response and develop into a comprehensive recovery and resilience plan.
Following a first phase of intervention which focused on emergency psychosocial support, this extended plan places emphasis on long-term recovery, prevention of future psychosocial risks, and promotion of wellbeing among children, young people, and their families.
Spain - Inspiring cultural change to make mental wellbeing for young people a priority
Implementation Partner: Sant Joan de Déu, Zurich Spain
Grant duration: 2022 - 2026
Projected impact: 575,000 people
"Henka" which means ‘transformation’ in Japanese is an inclusive and universal project aimed at the entire educational community and puts adolescents at the centre. It is an initiative that will focus its actions on the prevention and promotion of emotional well-being in young people between 12 and 16 years old. In addition, it will promote social awareness so that the mental health of young people is a priority in the educational environment.
The objective of Henka, is for young people to face adversity in a healthy way, with tools that promote the development of resilience capacities, as a protective factor. This reduces both the risk of suffering from a mental health disorder and the negative impact of many problems that negatively affect the wellbeing of adolescents.
Together with Hospital St. Joan de Deu and Zurich Spain, we aim to empower young people to be resilient in the face of adversity. Henka focuses on educational and family environments with the goal of inspire a cultural change in society, so that the emotional wellbeing of young people becomes a priority.
Türkiye – Empowering young people to care for their mental wellbeing and prepare for future crises
Implementation partners: Needs Map, Zurich Türkiye
Grant duration: 2021 - 2028
Projected impact: 410,000 people
The Side by Side program’s ambition is to transform Türkiye’s youth mental wellbeing ecosystem by empowering 15- to 24-year-olds, caregivers, and youth-serving professionals.
At a turning point for Türkiye - moving from rising levels of distress toward improved wellbeing, resilience and social connection - the program facilitates preventive group sessions, peer-led methods, creative youth pathways, and integrated online and on-site components.
Side by Side aims to expand equitable access to preventive, community-based wellbeing support and practical tools; to reduce stigma at societal level; and to build institutional capacity to sustain long-term, system-wide change.
UK – Transforming the lives of thousands of autistic young people across the UK
Implementation partners: Ambitious about Autism, Zurich UK
Grant duration: 2022 - 2028
Projected impact: 1,462,500 people
With a focus on prevention, the Autistic and OK program empowers autistic youth to take charge of their mental health and wellbeing. It equips them with tools to understand both their wellbeing and autistic identity, helping them stay out of crisis during a pivotal stage of life. The program also supports the adults around them - teachers, parents, and practitioners - by building confidence in creating autism‑affirming environments through partnership, advocacy, and system change.
Phase one of Autistic and OK (2022–2025) was a major success. It produced an award‑winning, co‑created toolkit, developed alongside autistic young people, which is now freely available to help secondary and specialist schools across the UK support autistic students’ wellbeing. The program centers on peer‑led sessions, where older autistic students guide younger peers through key mental health and wellbeing topics with support from school staff. The toolkit also includes resources such as a teacher training module, a parent information pack, and an assembly session designed to strengthen understanding and acceptance across the whole school community.
Building on this momentum, phase two (2025–2028) will deepen engagement and expand the program geographically. It will introduce a whole‑school approach, strengthen advocacy and sustainability efforts, and launch a new Learning Management System to support tracking, learning, and scaling.
Latin America
Brazil - Promoting positive mental health through emotional literacy programs
Implementation partner: Anima Institute
Grant duration: 2022- 2027
Projected impact: 5.9 million people
Emotional literacy strongly contributes to self-regulation and wellbeing and positively impacts mental health. Through a combination of classes, teacher training and mentoring, this project will enable students to develop their emotional skills in dealing with stressful or problematic situations in life.
In addition, this program will offer open content and training courses on formative pathways for emotional literacy, self-care, self-regulation, promoting wellbeing and breaking the taboo on mental health.
North America and Bermuda
Canada - Strengthening youth mental wellbeing and skills through experiential learning
Implementation partner: Junior Achievement Canada
Grant duration: 2022 - 2028
Projected impact: 335,300 people
Building on the success of program’s first phase, the current phase will scale school-based mental wellbeing programs and expand mental wellbeing education and support, serving as a catalyst for peer advocacy and alumni engagement to impact community-level change.
The program aims to build youth knowledge and understanding, equip young people to with applicable skills and experiences to improve their mental wellbeing and become youth mental wellbeing advocates among their peers and within their communities.
Find out more about the award-winning Tackle Your Feelings Program
Neville Jetta, Tackle Your Feelings ambassadorAustralia
Tackle Your Feelings is a mental well-being training program offered to community AFL clubs in urban, rural and remote areas across Australia, supporting players and their families, coaches and club volunteers. The genius of Tackle Your Feelings is that it recognizes the unique role that community coaches and football clubs play in improving the well-being and social cohesiveness of local communities.
This grassroots program assists Australians with improving their ability to understand, recognize and manage signs of poor mental health.
The training is developed and delivered by accredited psychologists and was modelled on mental health training provided at professional AFL clubs. It supports de-stigmatization and greater awareness around mental health issues, and behavioral change.
This campaign is run in collaboration with the Australian Football League’s (AFL) Players’ and Coaches’ Associations and Zurich Financial Services Australia LTD.
Ireland
Tackle Your Feelings is a mental health and wellbeing campaign, which supports proactively looking after your mental wellbeing. With resources available covering happiness, optimism and resilience, join our community in taking control of your mental wellbeing.
With some of Ireland’s sporting heroes leading the way, we want to inspire people to take control and be more proactive in looking after their mental well-being, so that issues are tackled before they hit crisis stage.
The Irish program has inspired other Zurich business units, like in Australia. This is a first for the Z Zurich Foundation – taking a successful program it has invested in from one country and transferring it with funding to another.
Eimear Considine, Tackle Your Feelings ambassador