The Oxfordshire Discovery College was founded in 2019 by Laura Harte, to bring a new and innovative mental health service to Oxfordshire. The Discovery College model supports children and young people through psychoeducation, working in the space between clinical support, education and youth work. Programmes on mental health topics are designed and delivered by dream-team duos of Facilitators who together have both lived and learned subject knowledge and expertise.

This way of working creates a space where children and young people can ask tricky questions about mental health, find lived experience role models, develop their own coping strategies and life skills, and regain control of their wellbeing journey: helping them find their agency in a tumultuous time.

The first dedicated Discovery College working with 4-25 year olds in the UK, the support of the Shackleton Foundation will enable the service to grow its groundbreaking work across the county.