BALANCE kicks off activities: young people, educators and families unite for mental health
This November, the European BALANCE project kicked off the activities in Portugal. A face-to-face session was held for a group of educators from Cáritas Coimbra’s Leisure Activity Centres, dedicated to reflection, sharing and mobilisation in the area of emotional well-being and mental health among young people. Soon, all Leisure Activities Centres’ teams and interested families will have access to online training, which will provide content and resources on this topic. The aim is to promote the training of professionals and families in the area of mental health, in order to strengthen skills and strategies to support young people.
Also this month, activities began with groups of young people aged between 13 and 18 from Cáritas Coimbra’s Leisure Activities Centres (Guia, Ferreira do Zêzere, Lousã e Arganil). Over the course of several sessions, topics related to mental health will be addressed and activities will be prepared for implementation in the region, namely the Youth Mental Health Festival (Coimbra, 2026). This event aims to bring together young people, families, educators and professionals in a space for debate, reflection and co-creation of solutions for the promotion of well-being and mental health. It will be designed by and for young people and will include workshops, cultural moments and sharing of good practices.
BALANCE is funded by the European Union’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme – CERV and has 4 official partners: Cáritas Coimbra (Portugal), Coimbra Region Intermunicipal Community (Portugal), Fundació Ajuda i Esperança (Spain) and Fundesplai (Spain), the project’s coordinator.
