Our Founders
mdeducational foundation was set up by two passionate philanthropists, our founders Miriam Dervan & Tarquin Scadding-Hunt, who started our journey towards a world in which every student has access to the wellbeing support they need, without delay
How it all started
mdeducational foundation began when our philanthropist founders, Miriam Dervan (Founder of mdgroup and Executive Chair) and Tarquin Scadding-Hunt (CEO of mdgroup), recognised the growing challenges within the education sector, particularly the lack of mental health and wellbeing support for students aged 16-18 years old. They became extremely passionate about changing the script for today’s young people. They focused on giving back to the local community by developing the provision of early intervention support for 16-18-year-olds – providing much-needed support for young people’s wellbeing needs through education and beyond.
Recognising the struggles faced by educational establishments, especially in supporting those nearing adulthood, they established mdeducational foundation. Armed with industry connections and research, mdeducational foundation provided salary funding to its first school, enabling the hiring of a Wellbeing Lead for a dedicated post-16 Wellbeing Hub. After just one year within the pilot school, the scheme’s success was evident, and mdeducational foundation made a commitment to expand it’s reach across other parts of the UK, Northern Ireland and Ireland.
mdeducational foundation Founders, Tarquin Scadding-Hunt and Miriam Dervan, at the official launch at Mount St Michael Secondary School in Ireland
To date, mdeducational foundation and its team of staff and Wellbeing Leads have been integral to many wellbeing interventions. From providing immediate support without wait times to enabling a proactive and constant point of contact for those in need, we continue to do all we can to improve the lives of 16-18-year-olds across the UK and Ireland.
We know we are still on our journey and will continue to compassionately build upon all aspects of our work. We also endeavour to develop a longer term sustainable strategy to prioritise student wellbeing through guidance and early intervention which ultimately not only impacts directly with the students but with the whole school and communities.
Meet the founders of mdeducational foundation
I know what a difference external mental health support could have made to me. I suffered a lot from anxiety at school, which in hindsight made it very difficult for me to learn. Things my classmates would pick up quickly would take me twice as long. From the age of 4 to eighteen, I was always in the bottom class – ‘D’ – which I believed stood for ‘Dunces’. I found it upsetting and frustrating, but I also felt that I couldn’t vocalise it to my mother as I just didn’t have the words to know what to say.
When I look back at my school years, I know that if someone objective would have noticed me, talked to me, and given me techniques to deal with my anxiety, it would have set me on a brighter path- as it was, mental health was not a “thing”. In today’s schools, mental health is mercifully much higher up the agenda. But schools are under-resourced, and teachers are overstretched. Any government funding and grants towards mental health don’t go nearly far enough and are often swallowed up into the school system.
This is why we created mdeducational foundation. We wanted to provide funding to schools that directly impacts young people. It is my absolute passion. We are seeing a generation of young people coming out of the pandemic with more mental health challenges than ever, who need support now. We are delighted to be on this journey to brighten those futures in any way we can.”
– Miriam Dervan, Co-Founder at mdeducational foundation
”When I was at school, there were no provisions at all for helping teenagers navigate the transition to adulthood, which is something I found very difficult to cope with.
We set up mdeducational foundation based on a desire to change the script for today’s young people, and to give something back to the local community. From my own experience, and as a parent now, I know this can make a huge difference. Our healthcare system works on the premise that young people are “fine”, right up until the point where they have a mental health crisis – and it’s only then that support services step in. We wanted to change that path, by offering much earlier intervention and support to stop young people ever getting to that crisis point in the first place.
The wonderful thing about working with schools is that we are de-stigmatising mental health for young people right from the start. By offering a safe space as well as an on-site wellbeing professional, we are sending the message that mental health is important for everyone, and access to support is there when you need it.
We look forward to working with the schools to integrate mental health into the very fabric of young people’s education.”
– Tarquin Scadding-Hunt, Co-Founder at mdeducational foundation
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