Children’s Mental Health Week starts today, and Nigel Evans MP is calling for people to get involved.
Children’s Mental Health Week was founded by the charity Place2Be back in 2015 and is designed to shine a spotlight on the importance of children and young people’s mental health. This year’s theme is ‘Growing Together,’ and the week is running from 7-13 February.
Growing Together is about growing emotionally and finding ways to help each other grow. Challenges and setbacks can help us to grow and adapt and trying new things can help us to move beyond our comfort zone into a new realm of possibility and potential. However, emotional growth is often a gradual process that happens over time, and sometimes we might feel a bit ‘stuck’.
For Children's Mental Health Week 2022, Place2Be are encouraging children (and adults) to consider how they have grown and how they can help others to grow. You can listen to Mandip Gill’s growth story here: https://youtu.be/tyBK0Evcyyo
Place2Be have also teamed up with BAFTA kids to create two free virtual assemblies featuring messages from special guests, the assemblies will help hildren and young people across the UK take part in the week and explore the theme of ‘Growing Together.’ You can access the assemblies here.
You can find out more information about Place2be’s campaign at: https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/
As well as Plan2Be’s campaign UNICEF UK is encouraging people to get involved with their youth OutRight campaign this Children’s Mental Health Week. UNICEF UK has been teaching school children about mental health encouraging them to create and share Mental Health Declarations, outlining the support, policies, and resources children feel they need to ensure good mental health and wellbeing.
OutRight is a yearly campaign run by UNICEF UK for schools and youth groups, to empower children in the UK to learn about and speak out in support of children’s rights. OutRight 2021-22 is focussing on mental health and wellbeing, with over 1,300 settings taking part, reaching an estimated 40,000 children and young people across the UK.
Participants are learning how we can tackle stigma associated with the topic and ways to take care of their mental health, including seeking support, all in relation to their rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
You can take part in OutRight here: UNICEF.UK/OutRight21