'Take Care For Bobby' - Bereaved Liverpool mum helps make school retrun as stress-free as possible
Bobby Colleran's family will be working with schools to support pupil's mental health
A Liverpool mum whose son was killed on his way home from school is launching a campaign to help children cope with the pressures of returning to class during the pandemic.
Six year old Bobby Colleran died after being hit by a van in 2014, sparking the Slow Down for Bobby Campaign .
Now, his family are asking us to 'Take Care For Bobby' and will be working with schools to support pupil's mental health.
Following the Covid19 pandemic, the impact on the mental health of young people has been well documented on a national and international level.
The Take Care for Bobby initiative will provide vital support services within the school environment by delivering a mental health awareness programme to children and young people across Primary and Secondary education.
The Trust has provided mental health and bereavement support to children alongside its well-known ‘Slow Down for Bobby’ road safety campaign since 2014, when 6-year-old Bobby Colleran was killed in a road accident.
The impact on the mental health of Bobby’s siblings led his mother, Joanne, to spearhead the improvement of accessible therapy for young people by providing counselling services in schools and children’s centres.
In January 2021, The Lancet reported the incidence of mental health problems in 5–16 year olds in England, as rising from 10·8% in 2017 to 16·0% in July 2020 with more than a quarter of children (aged 5–16 years) and young people (aged 17–22) reporting disrupted sleep and one in ten (5·4% of children and 13·8% of young people) describing they often or always felt lonely.
As the Trust marks what would have been Bobby’s 13th birthday, the Take Care for Bobby campaign’s mission is to deliver a range of therapies in schools, improve the understanding of mental health for children, young people and care givers as well as providing bite-size tips and tools for mental health caretaking within it’s specially-created programme.
Bobby's Mum Jo said : “I’ve experienced first-hand with my own children the impact that trauma can have on children and young people and the value and transformative effect that mental health support and therapeutic services can have on their lives.
"With Take Care for Bobby, we want to play our part in addressing the mental health epidemic with early intervention and long-term support, creating a legacy for The Bobby Colleran Trust that not only protects our children and young people, but empowers them with tools and a greater understanding of taking care of themselves and their mental health.”
The programme is available for all primary and secondary schools and FE colleges across the whole Liverpool City Region. Teachers and parents interested in taking part can contact the Take Care for Bobby team for more information and to arrange their sessions by emailing: thebobbycollerantrustfund@outlook.com
All funds raised by the sessions will go towards supporting The Trust’s vision to open its own wellbeing centre for children and young people in Liverpool as part of the next phase in the Take Care for Bobby campaign and the charity is also driving a fundraising mission to support the programme - https://www.justgiving.com/ac278ed88a