A MENTAL health expert has said the Prime Minister's £1bn pledge to raise awareness could be 'life-changing' if used to create preventative strategies.

Last week Theresa May wrote exclusively for the Oxford Mail to announce a new National Citizen Service (NCS) course, which will see young people provided with dedicated mental health courses and training.

She also revealed her plans to roll out mental health training for frontline staff and to set up a new network for graduates of the NCS – a scheme which allows 15 to 17-year-olds to develop new skills and contribute to society.

Dan Knowles, chief executive officer of mental health charity Oxfordshire Mind, said the investment is a lifeline at a time where the amount of young people struggling with their mental health is on the rise.

He said: "At Oxfordshire Mind, the help we provide consists of supporting people who are struggling but also working to prevent mental health issues in the first place.

"At the moment, there is a massive emphasis on the help, which is great, but we'd much rather stop people from even getting to that stage.

"Incidents of self-harm among young people have trebled between 2002 and 2014 and 30 per cent of young women say they have self-harmed, which is shocking, so this amount of money would be life-changing in terms of preventative strategies."

Mr Knowles, who has worked in his position at the charity for a year, said he thought the money should be used to generate an awareness among parents, teachers and young people so they are all aware of their role in the process.

He said: "Teachers are overburdened with work, students are under a huge amount of pressure and then you've got the effects of social media too.

"By working with all three parties, we can ensure we are moving forward and that we can teach young people about resilience, mindfulness and knowing who to go to before things go wrong.

"I also think the money would be best used educating parents who seem to be the most lost here because they don't know how to protect their children or how to act, and it is vital that they receive targeted information on what to do and who to contact."

Mrs May said the money would be used for new mental health training for frontline NCS staff and a network of young graduates to 'champion' mental health awareness in their communities, in addition to providing dedicated awareness courses for participants.

She also echoed Mr Knowles' views in saying that early intervention is 'vital'.

He said: "The NCS is already doing an absolutely fantastic job of raising money and awareness so I really would like to thank them for what they've already done and what I know they'll continue to do as a result of this funding."