Mental Health Project Pilot In North East Schools
It's hoped a new project being trialled in the region will reduce a mental health stigma in schools.
Tyneside and Northumberland Mind are one of three areas chosen to be part of a UK pilot with a plan to roll out assemblies, workshops and one to one support to all schools.
Young volunteers at the charity helped develop the project, which hopes to help children understand anxiety, anger and low mood from a young age.
It’s been tested in two schools so far, and will roll out to eight more in September.
Part of the scheme involves kids as young as 10 years old being about to self-refer for one to one support – that’s not supposed to start until September but they’ve already had loads of requests.
Stuart Dexter, Chief Executive at Tyneside and Northumberland Mind, said:
“If we can catch young people earlier, teach them about mental health, reduce the stigma, help them promote well-being, then hopefully we can prevent problems becoming more serious later in life.”
Kate Larkin, Mind Schools Project Coordinator, said:
“Although they’re quite short interventions we’re able to build up a really good relationship with those young people and to see the difference you can make to help them find their own strategies and own tools to be able to cope with whatever it is that’s going on for them is really really rewarding.”
Darrien O’Brian, 25, from Felling, was bullied from the age of 11 as he battled with anger problems and depression at school. He
“When I tried to turn to somebody, I was pushed to the side and they thought I was an attention seeker”
“I think I would have benefitted from this a lot because I would have found out exactly what was wrong with me then and I could have done something about it to not be so different.”
Billi Rathbone, 20, from Wallsend suffered from a severe eating disorder when she was 14 years old. She thinks teachers should be trained up to help children understand mental health and encourage them to ask for help.
“If I didn’t have my teacher to open up to I wouldn’t have had a clue who to go to, I probably would have just kept it in. I wouldn’t be sitting here, I probably would have been dead.”
You can find out all about the project and more about Northumberland and Tyneside Mind here:
Check out their very own Mood Tracker App, it’s free and can be used to monitor your ups and downs and improve your wellbeing: