Wellbeing and prevention

Early intervention and prevention are our main priorities in taking forward our approach to mental health and wellbeing.

We aim to:

support people to positively engage with their mental health at an early stage, promoting and supporting the conditions for good mental health and wellbeing at a population level and with all communities across Scotland
ensure that people are able to think about their mental health alongside their physical health and that they have the information and support to be able to do this
enable people to talk about and seek support for their mental health, without discrimination or stigma

Online support

We have helped provide online resources to help support people’s wellbeing, including:

ongoing development of the Mind to Mind site on NHS Inform to provide practical resources that support the mental wellbeing of the population of Scotland
creating a specific section on mental health and money worries on Mind to Mind, signposting this content, and other sources of mental health support, on the Cost of Living portal
working with Change Mental Health and the Money and Pensions Service to develop a Money and Mental Health Toolkit to help people understand, manage and improve their financial health and mental wellbeing
launching the Supporting Mentally Healthy Workplaces Employer Platform in partnership with Public Health Scotland to ensure employers have the support they need to help promote mentally healthy workplaces

Community support

Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults

We have provided £84 million for our Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund for Adults, which aims to tackle social isolation, loneliness and mental health inequalities made worse by the pandemic and the cost crisis. More than 6100 awards have been made to local projects across Scotland since 2021.

The Fund’s aim is to support communities to address their mental health at an early stage. This enables them to create the conditions for good mental health and wellbeing at a population level whilst ensuring access to a range of support to match their needs.

Children and young people: community mental health and wellbeing supports and services

Every child and young person should be able to access support for their mental health and wellbeing when and where they need it. We have provided local authorities with over £80 million since 2020 to fund community-based mental health and wellbeing supports and services for children, young people and their families, including baselined funding of £15 million per annum from 2025 to 2026.

The supports and services are focused on prevention and early intervention, promoting positive mental health and wellbeing, and tackling emotional distress. They are available in every local authority area and more than 300 have been put in place across the country.

Changing Room: Extra Time

In 2025 to 2026 we are providing £100,000 of funding (shared with population health policy) to support The Changing Room: Extra Time, which provides opportunities for users to participate in activities, engage with others and explore specific areas which impact on their mental health. It is an extension of The Changing Room project and is run by SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health) in partnership with the SPFL Trust and associated community trusts.

Tackling stigma and discrimination

Tacking mental health stigma and discrimination is a key priority for the Scottish Government and this is reflected in our vision and actions within our Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and Delivery Plan. We are doing this through a number of ways, including ongoing sponsorship of See Me, Scotland’s anti-mental health stigma campaign. See Me have received £5 million over 5 years since 2021.

Peer support and the Scottish Recovery Network

In 2024 to 2025, we are providing £500,000 of funding to support the work of the Scottish Recovery Network (SRN), an organisation, managed by Penumbra, that seeks to promote and support the development of recovery and peer support across Scotland. SRN are a key partner, working with the Scottish Government to identify and share evidence of the benefits and impacts of peer support and the settings where this will have the most impact and to also identify how peer support can be appropriately integrated into supports and services.

National Rural Mental Health Forum

In partnership with the Scottish Government Agricultural and Rural Economy Directorate we provide funding of £51,000 each year to fund the National Rural Mental Health Forum (the Forum) and work collaboratively with them to address the unique challenges presented in rural, remote and island communities. Led in partnership with Change Mental Health and the Rural Policy Centre of Scotland’s Rural College, the Forum maintains a broad membership of over 280 groups and organisations and a wide reach to tackle the stigma associated with mental health. It helps people in rural areas maintain good mental health and wellbeing by developing connections between communities across rural Scotland and informing policy.

Supporting mentally healthy workplaces: National Learning Network for Employers

In partnership with Public Health Scotland and See Me, we have established a national learning network for employers across Scotland to share practice and experiences on how they are supporting mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. The network, which meets quarterly online, is open to all sizes of organisations across all sectors in Scotland and membership is free. We encourage anyone who has leadership responsibility within their organisation for supporting mental health and wellbeing to join the network. Previous network meetings have focused on a number of themes, some of which are highlighted below. Following every network event a newsletter is issued to all our members which contains a recap of the discussions. Read the newsletters:

The network was established to complement the ‘Supporting a Mentally Healthy Workplace’ digital platform for employers. The platform signposts employers to a wide range of free resources and guidance to promote and support mental health and wellbeing in the workplace.

Mental health and money worries

In partnership with Change Mental Health, we have developed an advice pack for frontline workers who provide support to people who may be experiencing money worries and poor mental health. The pack aims to support advisers to access a range of advice and support beyond their own organisations and areas of expertise, including support for their own mental wellbeing. The advice pack is available online, and can be downloaded from Change Mental Health’s website: Advice pack for frontline advisers (changemh.org)

We also worked with Change Mental Health and the Money and Pensions Service to develop a Money and Mental Health Toolkit. The toolkit is designed to help people understand, manage, and improve their financial health and mental wellbeing. The toolkit can be downloaded from the Mental Health and Money Advice Scotland website

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