The Leg Up Project in North West Leicestershire is now being supported with grant funding for the expansion of its services.

Supplied by the NHS Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland Integrated Care Board (ICB), the funding was awarded through the Mental Health and Resilience grant scheme which is organised by Leicestershire County Council.

The new funding means that The Leg Up Project can widely expand its reach this year.

This has allowed the project to take on full-time staff members and increase the delivery and availability of the services offered. 

The support will allow The Leg Up Project to open activities to the public such as: 

• Kayaking
• Mountain training
• Abseiling
• Climbing
• Camping
• Hiking
• Canoeing

It will also increase the reach and delivery of the project's unique cognitive, emotional, and behavioural performance and wellbeing educational sessions.

A large number of its activities and services can now be provided for free to anyone 18+ within Leicestershire. 

The Leg Up Project is a unique social hub in North West Leicestershire that delivers well-being and performance coaching, adventure therapy.

It also offers educational courses to promote an increase in well-being and healthy living.

A spokesperson for the Leg Up Project said: "While we work with individuals facing personal difficulties, this is not an inclusion criterion, and our doors are open to anyone who wants to be a part of a close, positive community with a desire to improve themselves.

"Our focus is to prevent isolation, loneliness, and the risk of development of mental health conditions by enforcing techniques to build resilience and counter deviations in ideal mental health. 

"The project is about the maintenance and improvement of well-being as well supporting those facing adverse mental health issues.  

"There is no inclusion criteria and to access our services, individuals do not need to have a mental health condition.

"Our model is for anyone and everyone that is 18+. We are all about maintaining wellbeing as well as increasing it, so any person may benefit from working with us.

"We welcome those who see themselves as thriving and those who see themselves as needing some extra guidance. The Leg Up Project is about learning, fun and adventure."

The Leg Up Project was founded by Kev Bland, author, formal Royal Marines Commando, teacher, and University Lecturer. 

He said: "I created the Leg Up Project as a direct response to the heartbreaking number of men taking their own lives, some good friends included."

Kev left the military after seven years of service due to a knee injury, his transition back into civilian life would turn out to be a very difficult process, but it would eventually lead him into a new career in education.

During his 15 years of being on the frontline of teaching he would realise that well-being was absolutely crucial to raise performance and realise potential.

Not only for the learners, but also for teachers, education leaders, and support staff alike.

This belief was further supported as he focused on wellbeing, behaviour, and motivation during his time as a lecturer and coach on the PGCE course at the University of Derby.

The Leg Up Project's educational packages are designed to increase well-being through a preventative and combative approach by giving the tools to better understand the way we think and act and for challenging cognitive and emotional difficulties, we are huge proponents of building resilience to counter poor mental health.

It is also aware of the wider issues that impact well-being and address these openly throughout. Its model not only helps individuals through a difficult time, but also gives them the knowledge and tools for long term health and to support others.  

The project connects individuals and allows them to be open within a supportive and controlled environment, friendships and bonds are formed that reduce isolation amongst peers.

The two alternate settings (outdoors and indoor) provide nurturing environments that act to enhance positive feelings through physical exercise and wellbeing and performance coaching.

The project does not pitch itself as a mental health service, but recognises the link between what it does and its intrinsic impact on mental health, and can therefore engage with groups of people that would usually not interact with services. 

Tom Weston, Strategic Lead for the project said: "I truly believe that it's a unique, one-of-a-kind model that works due to its ability to combine educational concepts with extreme amounts of reward that's experienced within the adventure therapy. There is an ongoing joke that it's the scouting movement for adults with a sprinkle of teaching all the things that we should have been taught in school about self-improvement.

"I didn't believe the vast and quick massively changes in people I knew that had attended the project until I saw it with my own eyes, now I'm part of the core team behind the scenes" 

The project will be releasing a calendar of dates, times, and places whereby the public can stay updated on what it is doing and when.

To get involved, you can like the project's Facebook page www.facebook.com/thelegupprojectcic, or go to its website www.thelegupproject.com and www.the-leg-up-project.com and sign up to the services offered at www.thelegupproject.com/registerme. 

There is also a free 10-week course that tackles issues such as conflict management, distress tolerance, confidence building and more starting this Monday night (June 26) at 6:30pm – 8:30pm at Rothley House on Jackson Street Industrial Estate in Coalville, LE67 3NR. Parking is available. Registrations on the website must be completed before attending the course.