The Mix are taking part in PHE’s next phase of the Better Health – Every Mind Matters campaign.
The campaign is designed to support children and young people’s mental wellbeing. The Mix are representing young people as one of the UK’s leading youth charities.
Over half of parents said that their children’s mental health was one of their biggest worries during covid and most families have experienced upheaval in their daily lives during the pandemic. With children and young people now back at school or college, PHE’s new campaign provides NHS-endorsed tips and advice to help children and young people’s mental wellbeing, and equip parents and carers with the knowledge to support them.
Research reveals that the coronavirus outbreak has caused an increase in anxiety in young people[1], and more than a third of children report being more worried, sad and stressed than before lockdown[2].
New PHE survey data found that two thirds of parents surveyed say their children’s behaviour has changed since the start of the pandemic (69%) and, when asked their top three worries around coronavirus, over half (52%) said the mental wellbeing of their children topped the list of their biggest worries.[3]
The advice available on the Better Health – Every Mind Matters website has been developed in partnership with leading children and young people’s mental health charities. It is designed to help parents and carers spot the signs that children may be struggling with their mental health and support them. In addition to the advice for parents and carers the site also provides tools to help young people build resilience and equips them to look after their mental wellbeing.
To engage parents and carers a powerful short film has been created featuring a range of celebrity parents including Davina McCall, Marvin Humes, Sean Fletcher, Katie Piper and Edith Bowman, reading extracts from best-selling author Charlie Mackesy’s well-known book, ‘The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse’. The emotive extracts all touch upon mental health and aim to encourage parents to visit the Better Health – Every Mind Matters website.
CEO of The Mix, Chris Martin, said: “For children and young people, coronavirus resulted in the withdrawal of the daily companionship of friends and the personal support provided by schools, health services and youth clubs that was vital to maintaining their mental health. At The Mix, we witnessed a frightening rise in contacts from those who felt overwhelmed by anxieties and fears that were magnified by the suffocating effects of isolaton. As young people and their families face the fresh challenge of the return to school, it is essential that they have access to expert information and life-saving support they need to ensure positive mental health.”
For more information search Every Mind Matters.
[1] Levita L, Gibson Miller J, Hartman TK, Murphy J, Shevlin M, McBride O, and others. Report 1: Initial research findings on the impact of COVID-19 on the well-being of young people aged 13 to 24 in the UK. Non-representative sample of 2,000 children and young people aged 13 to 24, collected 21 to 29 April 2020
[2] Barnardo’s. Generation lockdown: a third of children and young people experience increased mental health difficulties. 2020. [Sample of 4,283 young people aged 8-24, weighted to be representative of all -24 year olds, GB. Collected 15 May-2 June 2020.]
[3] Survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of Public Health England. Total sample size was 2,559 parents in England who have children aged 5 to 18. Fieldwork was carried out online between 4th to 11th August 2020.
