Pure Mental In-school Toolkits

Posted on July 6, 2021 by Michael

PURE MENTAL ARE LAUNCHING OUR ‘IN SCHOOL’ MENTAL HEALTH TOOLKITS FOR KS1

Designed to introduce key concepts of well-being and a healthy mindset, our KS1 toolkits explore topics such as friendships, talking, bullying, stress, anxiety, sadness and grief in an age-appropriate manner. Resources within the toolkits are tailored to talk directly to each key stage group using activities, colouring exercises, assemblies, posters and more. KS1 pupils will also be our area of focus for the first set of kits before moving on to KS2 and secondary schools. Every resource that we have designed for the ToolKits have been selected and devised with the aim of improving young people’s understanding of mental-wellbeing, emotions, how to verbalise their thoughts as well as how to look to out for other people’s well-being as well as their own. Our first KS1 ToolKit, which focuses on intervention, has been successfully designed and distributed to trial in several schools around Northern Ireland. We plan on gathering research and feedback from our schools, to form an evaluation report on the ToolKit. The next step will be formally launching our KS1 ToolKits into as many Primary Schools across Northern Ireland as possible. We will be providing both secondary and primary schools with kits as part of our overarching mental health education programme that spans the entire educational journey of young people.

Find our more at: https://www.puremental.org/toolkits

Contact: purementalni@gmail.com

The Young People’s Well-being Council

Posted on July 6, 2021 by Michael

NORTHERN IRELAND’S BIGGEST INITIATIVE GETTING YOUNG PEOPLE INVOLVED IN MENTAL HEALTH POLICY.

The Young People’s Well-being Council is Pure Mental’s biggest initiative yet to get young people involved in developing mental health policy with particular focus on mental health in education, issues facing disadvantaged and vulnerable young people, and on tackling the stigma surrounding opening up and talking about how we feel. The Council consists of forty young people aged between 14 and 22 years old. We aim to involve young people from a range of backgrounds such as those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged, from ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+, in foster care, or have faced significant hardship or vulnerability in their life and give them the platform to participate in the conversation on mental health. These forty young people are split into 4 committees – Pax, Ulysses, Rhodes and Echo, where they will meet every eight weeks with Pure Mental NI Directors and the YPWBC Team, to help steer the focus of what Pure Mental hopes to achieve, to aid in our research efforts and to give valuable insight and information on mental health services, support and more from their own unique perspectives and experiences through being members of the council. This all adds to Pure Mental’s current research and lobbying efforts, allowing us to tailor our work to ensure it helps and represents those who will benefit most from reform and improvement to current mental health services and education.