Urban Villages - Focus Magazine {Issue 11)

Page 6

Tackling mental health issues for children and young people

Where’s Your Head At? During Children’s Mental Health Week, which was all about children and young people ‘expressing yourself’, Action Mental Health (AMH) asked a number of schools serving Urban Village areas, to take part in the ‘Where’s Your Head At?’ campaign. Children were asked by teachers to design or wear a hat, write down how they were feeling and then take a picture and send it into their school. This had a big response with children and young people taking part and sending in

photos of their fantastic hat creations from lots of different schools across the Urban Village areas, and teachers got involved too. Feelings ranged from positive emotions like happy and excited, right through to more challenging ones such as frustrated and bored. Two children and their Principal, Claire Robinson from Holy Evangelists’ PS, were interviewed on Radio Ulster’s John Toal show. They talked about what a difference it made for them to express how they were feeling.

Our Generation is a consortium of delivery partners providing a programme to support children, young people and their carers to tackle issues around mental health and well-being. Here’s how some of those partners are making an impact in Urban Village areas. Dealing with lockdown has created extra pressures for everyone, and what has been highlighted is the increase of anxiety and mental health issues impacting the lives of children and young people.

Listen here https://www.bbc.co.uk/ programmes/p0967pnp

Urban Villages Initiative | Focus Magazine Issue 811