A GROUP of psychology students at the University of Worcester have been trained to help lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) young people deal with mental health issues.

Mental health charity Mindfull recently visited the university to train almost 100 students as Mindfull Mentors, furnishing them with the skills they needed to provide support and guidance to youngsters dealing with emotional problems.

Following the success of the session – the largest of its kind every carried out by the charity – a group of students were given a special training session on how to deal with LGBT issues.

Chairman of the university’s student Psychology Society Ben Gibbons organised both sessions after volunteering with Mindfull.

“I have seen the difference they can make to a young person’s life,” he said.

“The additional LGBT specialist mentor training will provide our students with further expertise in discussing mental health issues in relation to people who are LGBT – issues which can be under-addressed in today’s society.

“This is an important issue that we as the psychology students and department at the University of Worcester are addressing and I am honoured to be a part of it.”

The university’s head of psychological sciences Dr Tim Jones said he was pleased students had learned more about how they could help young people in need.

“I am delighted that Ben has shown the initiative to take this training forward and I am very thankful that we are able to work so closely with Mindfull given the excellent work that they do,” he said.

“The LGBT training is both innovative and important and it is our commitment to schemes such as this which underpins the university’s values of equality and diversity and our ambition to be a compassionate university.”