Children and young people in schools across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) will celebrate Hello Yellow day, to help start conversations, share support available and show them they are not alone when it comes to their mental health.
The annual, national event, set up by the charity Young Minds, will take place on Friday 9 October, marking 10 years of the campaign. It also takes place the day before World Mental Health Day. To ensure local schools can take part, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust’s (LPT) mental health support teams in schools (MHSTs) have pulled together age-appropriate resources which have been sent to all schools. These include assembly slides, narrated by local young people, that aim to reassure children and young people that it is normal to feel a range of emotions, tips on how to look after their mental health and information on how they can find help and support if they need it.
Children and young people are able to access a range of support for their mental health, including from LPT’s Healthy Together school nurses, online support such as Togetherness courses and LPT’s Health for Kids and Health for Teens websites, and, for participating schools, the MHST service, which works with children who need some support with their feelings.
Surekha Joshi, family service manager for LPT’s MHSTs, said: “It’s so important that children and young people know that all emotions are a normal part of life, and that they don’t need to face difficult feelings alone. Being able to talk openly about how we feel, knowing where to go for support and feeling confident to ask for help can make a real difference. By starting these conversations early, we can help young people build the understanding, resilience and confidence to look after their mental health throughout their lives.”
Leicestershire Partnership NHS provides community, mental health and learning disability services across LLR. A full list of local mental health support services, including for children and young people, is available on the LPT website. This includes resources such as Tellmi; which is a free, safe, pre-moderated and anonymous app where young people aged 11 upwards can talk about feelings and seek support and My Self-Referral, which provides information on mental health and allows young people to refer themselves for mental health support if they need it.
Parents and carers can also visit the Support for Parents page on the LPT website for an overview of the parenting, health and wellbeing help and support available.
The Trust has also recently released a booklet to support young carers can be downloaded from the Health for Teens website.
Collections of articles on mental health support for primary school aged children and secondary school aged children can also be found on the Health for Kids and Health for Teens websites.