This week, YMCA Dialogue’s e-wellbeing service and Brighton & Hove Public Health Schools invited students from secondary schools across Brighton & Hove, to come together and celebrate their achievements during this year’s Mental Health Champions project.
Since November 2021, e-wellbeing’s team members (Leon, Raquel, and Charlotte), and Youth Ambassadors, have been working directly with groups of Champions (students) from BACA, Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Dorothy Stringer, Kings School Hove, Longhill High, PACA, Patcham High, Varndean College, and Varndean School. Each school’s Champions have been working as a team to raise awareness of mental health and create ways to improve understanding and support in their schools.
Watch the higlights in the video below!
During the end of year Celebration Event, which was co-hosted by Youth Ambassadors, Charlie and Jasmine, students and school leaders took part in a range of activities. This included sharing their highlights of the project, talking about ways to manage stress, and creating their own Play-Doh Wellbeing Space! Prior to the event, each group of Champions filmed a Video Presentation about their student-led action, which were presented during the Celebration Event for all Champions and school leaders.
Some of this year’s student-led actions included a student-led wellbeing space, worry boxes, an Instagram account offering support for revision and exam stress, and meetings with Senior Leadership Teams to discuss meaningful change.
The Champions and school leaders really enjoyed learning about each other’s student-led actions, and were keen to share feedback and ask questions about how they will continue the action in future!
I loved meeting people that are passionate and care about mental health as much as me! – Molly, PACA
My goal for the future of wellbeing at school would be to make sure there are diverse areas of accessible help. – Chloe, Kings School Hove
School leaders were also invited to take part in a Staff Wellbeing and Networking Session – run by Nicola Harvey, YMCA Dialogue’s Digital and Participation Lead – where they could share their feedback and take some time for their own wellbeing. School staff could also network with other school leaders involved in the project, as well as commissioners from Brighton & Hove Public Health Schools.
At the end of the Celebration Event, Rachel Brett, Director of YMCA Dialogue, shared a speech to congratulate the young people on their successful completion of the project, then presented certificates for their amazing work throughout the year. Each Champion and school leader also received a goodie bag, designed by e-wellbeing Youth Ambassador Jasmine!
On behalf of the e-wellbeing team, we’d like to say thank you to all the Champions and school leaders who took part in the 2021-22 Mental Health Champions project. Your passion for improving mental health really showed, and you all created something amazing that can make a real difference to student and staff wellbeing!
