OUR MISSION

Our Vision and Mission

Young people today are growing up in a world defined by uncertainty and complexity.

The lingering effects of the pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis, pressures of social media, academic competition, and a rapidly evolving job market have combined to create unprecedented challenges for this generation.

Schools are witnessing rising levels of anxiety, lower resilience, and a growing number of students struggling to cope with everyday pressures and setbacks.

At the High Performance Foundation, we believe that mental strength, the key social and emotional skills needed to succeed, can help young people not only overcome adversity but thrive in the face of it.

Our vision is that every young person has the mental strength they need to thrive.

Our mission is to build the mental strength of 1 million young people by 2030.

What is mental strength?

“Mental strength is the ability to manage your thoughts, emotions, and behaviours in a way that helps you face life’s challenges with confidence and resilience.”

Through the power of story-telling and inspiring role-models, we help young people build these essential life and employability skills.

Building the skills needed to thrive

The High Performance Foundation has identified 6 key skills that young people need to succeed in life beyond the classroom:

  1. Resilience

  2. Accountability

  3. Self-Belief

  4. Commitment

  5. Connection

  6. Emotional Control

These skills will improve young people’s mental strength which impacts:

  • Employability Skills

  • Confidence

  • Wellbeing

  • Social Mobility

We help young people build their mental strength.

We increase young people’s employability skills.

We drive social mobility.

  • Building Mental Strength

    Young people with high resilience are 60% less likely to develop mental health problems compared to their peers with low resilience.

    We’re supporting young people by teaching them the social and emotional skills they need, including confidence, resilience and wellbeing, to succeed in a changing world.

  • Employability Skills

    Around 700,000 young people in the UK are Not in Education, Employment, or Training and are disengaged from both the labour market and educational opportunities. 

    Through our in-schools programme we will help pupils to understand what motivates them, to identify their goals and develop skills needed for the workplace

  • Social Mobility

    Young people from lower social economic backgrounds in the UK are 20% less likely to be in employment than their peers from higher social economic background.

    We want to change this, and give young people an equal playing field to thrive.

    We’re supporting thousands of young people across the UK, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Game Plan brings the lived experience of the world’s highest performers to your school to build mental strength. These free, high-impact resources have been designed by teacher for teachers.

Our work.

Introducing Game Plan.

Find Out More

Strengthening Young Minds

A National Mental Strength Taskforce.

We’ve launched the UK’s largest research initiative focused on understanding, measuring, and strengthening mental resilience in young people.

Our goals are to:

  • Create a clear, practical definition of mental strength for young people

  • Identify what helps or hinders their confidence, resilience, and emotional well-being

  • Develop targeted solutions that support growth and success — in school and beyond.

Find Out More