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50% of mental health problems start before age 14. Yet early prevention support is lacking for children and young people - especially those facing social disadvantage and barriers to learning.
Early intervention has the greatest potential to support mental health, wellbeing and inclusion before problems worsen
and mental disorders develop
NICE recognises 'strengths-based' approaches support children and young people to build skills, resilience and self-worth.
Before this was widely recognised, Worth-it founder Liz Robson had already spent years specialising in early, preventative work with children and young people. She founded Worth‑It Positive Education CIC to address this gap.
In 2010 Liz Robson saw how bullying at 14 had triggered life-long mental health problems for a man who now needed full-time care from his mother.
At the time, she was completing her first coaching qualification and learning about positive psychology. She realised that gaps in mental health provision during his adolecent years had allowed problems to escalate into adulthood.
By speaking with young people, Liz found a clear lack of early intervention support for young people’s mental health. Her idea was to combine positive psychology and coaching to help prevent problems before they became crises.
Worth-it's innovative approach is based on the specific needs of children and young people - offering targeted support that builds self-worth, resilience and better life chances.
Worth‑it uses evidence‑based approaches that build positive mental health in children and young people. This helps children, young people and the adults around them develop wellbeing, resilience and more inclusive school cultures.
Pressures on children and young people in the 21st century, combined with inadequate resources and unhelpful coping strategies, are creating an epidemic of mental health problems.
By supporting children and young people before 14, we can help them flourish and reduce longer‑term social disadvantage.
We began by providing targeted frontline delivery with children and young people in the East Midlands. But we wanted to do more..
We started providing indirect support - upskilling professionals, teachers and schools in early intervention and wellbeing.
We became a UK-wide training provider for schools and organisations.
We launched our Wellbeing Academy, an online learning platform used across the UK, Ireland and internationally.
Our work comes at an essential time for young people. Young Minds reports:
In 2024 three children and young people are referred to CAMHS every minute in the UK, with 500 referrals being made a day for anxiety; more than double than before the Pandemic.
One in six children, aged 5-16, identified as having a probable mental health problem in 2021 - up from one in 2017.
83% of young people with mental health needs agreed that the Pandemic had made their mental health worse.
Suicide was the leading cause of death for males and females aged between 5-34 in 2019.
Emotional disorders such as anxiety and depression are the most common mental disorders
experienced by young people.
Worth-it combines academic grounding in positive psychology and coaching with practical experience supporting children, young people and the adults around them.
We were among the first to develop programmes using positive psychology and coaching to address early mental health problems.
We work with commissioners, schools, trusts and organisations to deliver early intervention, workforce development, online training and tailored support.
Our work helps leaders develop strategies for wellbeing and inclusion that reduce barriers to learning caused by social disadvantage.
We will create change that lasts for children and young people.
We will stay evidence-based, honest and always improving.
We will work with schools, organisations and children to shape our approaches together.
We will build the skills, confidence and tools people need to grow.
Founder
Liz is the Founder of Worth-it and is a leading Positive Psychologist and Educator. She is an expert in designing and delivering coaching and positive psychology–based interventions that improve wellbeing, resilience, and life outcomes for young people—particularly those at risk or facing disadvantage.
Reduced symptoms of stress, depression and anxiety
Self-help skills that improve mental wellbeing and resilience
Self-worth
Prevention of the escalation of emotional issues
Improved communication, interpersonal skills and relationships
Engagement in learning
Increased confidence and self-awareness
Reduced workload pressures on schools
Decreased absences and improved attendances
Reduced use of negative coping strategies such as self-harm
We worked with Oxford University and Study Higher to deliver our resilience skills workshop to 120 Year 11 students. Several secondary schools participated in our online raising aspiration day.
We worked with mental health and social change charity, Platfform, to deliver coach training to 12 Platfform team members over eight weeks. Coaches became more confident and armed with practical solutions. The young people felt empowered to look forward to the future positively.
We worked with St Helens Core Commissioning Group, St Helens Borough Council and Department for Education on a bespoke training programme and welling toolkit to support children and young people across the whole St Helens school and college community.
Worth-it Positive Education CIC has directly or indirectly improved the wellbeing, mental health and resilience of thousands of children and young people since 2018.
children and young people reached through workshops, programmes and coaching.
practitioners trained to provide support.
partnerships with schools and settings in the UK and internationally.
evidence-based approach to early prevention developed through positive psychology coaching.
Our ethos. Our record of delivery. Our early adopter status. And our social impact.
We are a Community Interest Company (CIC) committed to creating sustainable, evidence-informed change for all.
We’ve worked with hundreds of schools and organisations, helping partners build skills that strengthen resilience, wellbeing and inclusion.
We’ve been developing early intervention and inclusion-focused approaches for over a decade, long before it became policy priorities.
We share tools, training and strategies that organisations can use long after a project ends, so impact continues for future cohorts of young people.
We're very active and engaged with our community.
