Empowering youth to proactively manage their mental wellbeing

Ireland - Inspiring youth to take control of their mental wellbeing

Implementation partner: Tackle Your Feelings, Rugby Players Ireland, Zurich Ireland

Grant duration: 3 years

Projected impact: 270,000 people

A mental health and wellbeing campaign, which supports proactively looking after your mental wellbeing. With resources available covering happiness, optimism and resilience.

This campaign is run in collaboration with Zurich Insurance Plc in Ireland and Rugby Players Ireland.

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.

Ireland - Supporting innovative solutions across a full spectrum of mental health initiatives

Implementation partner: Rethink Ireland, Health Service Executive

Grant duration: 3 years

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.

Isle of Man - Providing mental wellbeing education, prevention and transformative early intervention

Implementation partner: Isle Listen and Zurich Isle of Man

Grant duration: 2 years

Projected impact: 45,000 people

Isle Listen’s program is transforming mental health and wellbeing for young people across the Isle of Man. Building on the successful implementation of Phase 1 in our previous three-year grant, we will proudly continue to support them as they expand their work.

The program will continue to provide multi-faceted early intervention and mental-health support for young people through a Listening Service, group work and caregiver support. 
 
Fully supported with clinical evidence and supervision, the delivery of an expanded and consistent program promises to transform the island’s schools and health system. 

Portugal - Supporting students, teachers and families in developing emotional regulation skills

Implementation partner: EPIS

Grant duration: 4 years

Projected impact: 16,500 people

This program aims to better prepare young people by developing emotional regulation skills that contribute to more mentally balanced lifestyles. With more than 100 public schools enrolled in the launch phase, the program will support over 42,000 students, aged between 12 and 15 years, about 800 teachers and over 2,000 families.

Spain - Inspiring cultural change to make mental wellbeing for young people a priority

Implementation Partner: Sant Joan de Déu, Zurich Spain

Grant duration: 3.5 years

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: 1.5 years

Projected impact: 199,300 people

This grant aims to initiate sustainable system change for youth mental wellbeing in Türkiye, in addition to a response to the immediate recovery needs in the aftermath of the February 2023 earthquake.

The program will help to build a new country-wide culture to promote youth mental wellbeing, break down the stigma around it, activate the resilience power of Turkish youth and prepare them for possible future crises.

The Side by Side (Yan Yanayız) web-based platform will empower Turkish youth to care for their mental wellbeing within and outside of crisis settings. The activation of a promotion and resilience building campaign for young people and caregivers will create a protective and preventive mechanism through the online distribution of key assets. The aim is to initiate a national preparedness plan for future emergencies while driving impact throughout the program's duration.

UK – Transforming the lives of thousands of autistic young people across the UK

Implementation partners: Ambitious about Autism, Zurich UK

Grant duration: 3 years

Projected impact: 300,500 people

This grant will support a preventative mental wellbeing program for autistic young people and their caregivers. It will involve young people in every step, from creation to delivery to advocacy and will inspire and empower them to look after their mental wellbeing. 

After an initial two-year pilot, the program will be expanded nationwide across the UK. This program takes a multi-pronged approach that focuses on changing attitudes, behavior, and creating a movement. By addressing a large portion of an autistic young person’s present and future eco-systems, we aim to bring about systemic change that puts an end to stigma and inequality and creates a lasting legacy. 

Canada -Supporting youth mental health promotion, advocacy and self-determination

Implementation partner: Junior Achievement Canada

Grant duration: 3 years

Projected impact: 230,600 people

Together with JA Canada, this program will promote and build awareness of the critical importance of youth mental well-being and resiliency through an array of activities targeted at youth between the ages of 12 and 17, and their educators and caregivers.

With the guidance and engagement of a collaborative advisory group of leading mental health partners, a youth council, and a program development working group, JA Canada is embarking on the development of a unique suite of program activities which will become established components of JA Canada's programming.

Key activities include: youth webinars/courses and online professional development for educators which will be released early in 2023; the redevelopment of JA Success Skills Program for classrooms across the country available in the spring of 2023; and the integration of mental well-being and resiliency modules in JA Company Program, JA's signature youth entrepreneurship program.

United States - Using the transformative nature of sports to improve mental wellbeing

Implementation partner: Beyond Sport, Zurich North America

Grant duration: 3 years

Projected impact: 702,900 people

“Head in the Game” (HITG) is a multi-year collaboration between the Z Zurich Foundation, Beyond Sport and Zurich North America. This initiative aims to use the transformative nature of sports to positively impact the mental wellbeing of hundreds of thousands of adolescents in the US.

HITG will take a whole-systems approach on youth mental wellbeing. It will provide resources and training on prevention and promotion and engage with communities at neighbourhood, city, and state levels. There will be a special focus on those who identify as Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) and LGBTQ+ communities.