About us
AM Wellbeing CIC is a not for profit established in December 2019.
Our Founder Andrea McGowan started the organisation with dreams of making a much-needed change within education. The key to making a real difference in the world is by improving mental health education in schools and workplaces.
Our organisation can see that there is real need for change, our children and society are struggling. One in four adults and one in 10
children within the UK are struggling with mental health. In Scotland 3 children in every classroom will be diagnosed with a mental health issue by the age of
16.
We provide a wide range of services that can help create a mental health culture within a school
environment. We can provide training, specialist staff and bespoke packages to help enhance mental health provisions. We are currently working within a range of schools within Glasgow North East, as well as providing a small number of health and wellbeing sessions. Due to the school closures, we have adapted our
work and are now supporting children through call supports, virtual classrooms and providing schools with a range of resources. We have also established a
range of online training for teaching and school staff.
We are also able to provide support to communities and businesses through our community-based work. We can provide training and advice
to any workplace and community group as well as provide mindfulness courses and support days comprises of team building and wellbeing. Within the first few
months of AM Wellbeing established, we have run five Scottish Mental Health First Aid courses, an 8-week course on Zen Mindfulness for adults and provided
advice and support to several local businesses around mental health support.
Statement from Our Founder
Hi, my name is Andrea McGowan and I am the Founder of AM Wellbeing. Thank you for visiting us today! I am so glad you took the time as I wanted to share with you a bit about why I started my community interest company.
In September 2019 I decided to leave my post with a large social care organisation to launch my business. I am truly thankful for my
experiences within social care but felt the time was right to use my skills and knowledge to follow my own dreams and campaign for real change within mental health and education. From my experience
working in school directly, I believe in order to make a real change education and communities we must help support the whole school community
I believe I can make a real difference and change to how we address mental health. My passion and led me to create AM Wellbeing, putting faith in my skills and knowledge to drive my dream forward. As part of my personal and professional development I became a student of Zen Mindfulness. This has taught me so much personally, building my confidence and enhancing my own mindfulness
practice.
I am proud and what I have achieve so far with AM Wellbeing and I know this will continuously change and adapt. AM will also focus on the mental health of children and communities and I am determined to improve the way we educate ourselves around mental health.
As the business expands and we develop more resources we will continue to focus on our mission:“To Enhance the lives of children, families and communities by providing a better understanding of mental health using early intervention approaches.”
Andrea's Journey
Andrea’s focus on mental health started in University while completing her degree in Education and Social Services, this course focused on lifelong learning and development.After University, Andrea worked in the Social Care Sector
for ten years, working in a range of different roles, all focusing specifically on supporting the mental health of individuals.
Andrea’s first role was supporting adults with disabilities, which provided the opportunity to develop
her training, knowledge of disabilities and enhance her communication skills.Andrea transitioned into working with Family support as her original training was in child care and she felt her skills would be beneficial in helping families. This service specialised in mental health and addiction support.
Andrea’s final role in the social care sector truly inspired her as she was asked to design and develop a mental health at school’s
programme. This program was developed over a two year period and had a successful pilot run in 3 schools, before being launched across a range of schools in Glasgow. The role allowed her to understand the dynamics of working within schools and create a range of services which would make a difference. During this time, she was able to further
develop her skills as a trainer becoming accredited in delivering Scottish Mental First Aid, The Solihull Approach and creating bespoke school needs led training.
Over time Andrea realised that she wished to do this in a different way that would allow more flexibility and ultimately deliver a more unique package. This led to the decision to leave her job and create AM Wellbeing CIC.