What is the Healthy Minds Project?
The Healthy Minds project has been developed to break down barriers, reduce stigma and promote mental health awareness within the Army Cadets.
The Army Cadets do not discriminate against people with physical or mental health conditions. We are an inclusive organisation, that will do its best to work with you and your child to allow them to achieve the full cadet experience. We focus on building a Healthy Mind using our Cadet Syllabus to build confidence and resilience whilst allowing cadets to develop as young people.
It is important to stress that our Cadet Force Adult Volunteers are not trained mental health professionals, but we are here to support our cadets during their journey. If we recognise a person in distress, we will encourage, with the individual’s co-operation, professional support, such as reaching out to appropriate civilian organisations.
We formally launched our Healthy Minds campaign in September 2020 by introducing our Resilience in the Army Cadet online course, which is available for Cadets and Adult Volunteers through the Defence Learning Environment. This launch earned the Army Cadets a Guinness World Record for the most online participants in a Mental Health Course in 24 hours.
What are the Steps to Wellbeing?
This is incredibly important for your mental health. Spending time with friends and family can promote good wellbeing. Army Cadets promote connections through detachment nights, weekend events and annual camps.
Increasing your heart rate releases endorphins, which makes you feel better about things you may be going through. The Army Cadets have a Keeping Active subject, which lets you find a physical activity that suits you, as well as other fun activities which get you moving, like Adventurous Training and Fieldcraft.
In Army Cadets, we promote teamwork and helping each other, as well as looking after the wider community through our Community Engagement subject.
Take the time to switch off from everyday life and take notice of your surroundings. The Army Cadets is a great way to escape the everyday life of computers and mobile phones by encouraging you to get out in nature and live in the moment.
Healthy Minds Awareness Courses
The Army Cadets have collaborated with the UK’s leading youth Mental Health charity, YoungMinds and developed Healthy Minds Awareness courses focusing on supporting the Mental Health of young people. There are a number of Healthy Minds Awareness Courses for our Adult Volunteers, which are available for booking via Westminster.
In addition to the Awareness Courses, our Adult Volunteers have the opportunity to be trained to deliver the Healthy Minds Awareness course at their local level. This course is known as the Healthy Minds facilitators course and is run three times per annum at our Cadet Training Centre Frimley Park
For our Senior Cadets (3 Star and above), we provide a dedicated Healthy Minds Course that offers valuable insights into understanding mental health and building personal resilience.
CFAV Wellbeing Support
Our CFAVs volunteer their time to support our 74,000+ cadets; this time, it's us supporting them. Our charity ACCT UK has launched the Care First by Optima Health support scheme.
Where to go for Mental Health Support
If you need help with your mental health, please reach out to one of the specialist charities below:
YoungMinds: Provides advice and support for young people and parents experiencing a mental health problem.
Samaritans: Available for anyone who is struggling to cope and needs someone to listen without judgement or pressure.
Papyrus: The national charity dedicated to the prevention of young suicide.
Mind UK: Provides advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem.
Cadet Wellbeing Support
KOOTH is a national service that provides free, anonymous mental health support to cadets who need someone to talk to. In association with the Ministry of Defence, it is available to offer help whenever it's needed.
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Volunteer Testimonial
Healthy Minds Initiative in South West London >At my first Annual Camp, I hit a wall and felt I wasn’t doing enough. Reaching out to the Wellbeing team changed everything—they listened without judgment and helped me reset. I returned more grounded, confident, and kinder to myself and my cadets.
Downloadable Resources
The leaflet below should be made available in all detachment units and weekend training centres. This leaflet gives you hints and tips on how to improve your wellbeing as well as some support numbers on the back.
If you need more printed leaflets, please use the cadets brand portal.
Download the ‘Think Before You Post’ Poster here
Download the Rainbow Senses Poster here
Download the Boot Breathing Technique Poster here
Download our Guidance for Setting up your Wellbeing Hub here