Perth College principal joins calls urging the Scottish Government to save 80 counselling roles at risk of redundancy

dailyrecord.co.uk:

UHI Perth’s principal has joined calls urging the Scottish Government to intervene and save 80 college mental health counselling jobs at risk of potential redundancy.The roles, including some at the Crieff Road Campus, have been funded since 2018 and allow students to access help.The service was put in place even before the pandemic and the cost of living crisis as mental health issues were recognised as having a huge impact on student wellbeing.Now 21 college principals have written to the Scottish Government to ask for the vital service to be saved as funding is only in place until July.Dr Margaret Cook, UHI Perth principal, said: “The counselling services funding has been crucial in supporting our students, especially in recognition of the challenges they have faced with Covid - and now the cost of living crisis.“We are fully supportive of the action taken by the college sector to maintain funding for essential counselling services.”Funding for counsellors to be based in colleges and universities was launched in 2018 by the First Minister with a funding commitment of up to £20m in a four-year pilot programme, which was extended to five years because of the pandemic.So far £14.5m has been spent and as a result college principals are asking what the intention is around the £5.5m left that remains.Allie Scott, co-chair of the College Counselling Network Scotland, said she was worried for college student health and wellbeing going forwards.“The early interventions and triage support which mental health counsellors offer has helped to keep demand away from the NHS,” she explained.“We’re not a replacement for the specialised care the NHS provides but we can be the difference between a student completing their course and