Here at WEST Youth Zone, ensuring the safety of young people and creating an environment where they can be supported and where they can express themselves is top priority. That’s why we support Children’s Mental Health Week!
What is Children’s Mental Health Week?
Children’s Mental Health Week, taking place on the 5th – 11th of February 2024, is an awareness campaign week created by children’s mental health charity, Place2Be. The charity provides vital services including counselling, mental health support and training in UK schools. They launched the week-long initiative in 2015 to empower, equip and give a voice to every child in the UK.
This year’s theme is ‘My Voice Matters’ which is all about empowering children and young people by providing them with the tools they need to express themselves. Allowing children to have their voices heard can make a difference by making them have a greater sense of community and heightened self-esteem, something WEST Youth Zone wants to encourage year-round.
Why WEST Youth Zone Supports Place2Be’s Awareness Week
WEST is taking part in Place2Be’s Children’s Mental Health Week because we prioritise the wellbeing of young individuals. We have a commitment to create a safe and nurturing space for our members where they can openly express themselves and share experiences with Youth Workers and other young people.
OnSide’s recent research report, Generation Isolation, found that 50% of young people reported high or very high feelings of anxiety and 46% of young people having anxiety around their future.
By endorsing Children’s Mental Health Week, we aim to raise awareness and promote discussion around the topic of mental health of our youth. Alongside this, promoting that our Youth Zone is space where children can talk about their worries and therefore helping improve anxiety and general mental health.
WEST’s Inclusion Coordinator, Harry Wills, says:
“Kid’s voices matter because their opinions are valid and deserve respect. As my role as a youth worker, I want to facilitate them to express themselves, encouraging them to pursue their goals. At WEST, we want to provide familiar and welcoming spaces where young people feel comfortable and have approachable staff with friendly faces and open ears, therefore helping to ease any anxieties they may have”
How to Get Involved
Visit Place2Be’s website to find out more about the awareness week. You will be able to download resources there to share with your children, students, or friends. Together, we can help give a voice to all young people in the UK!
Do you want to make a difference to children’s mental health in West London? Find out more about volunteering at WEST Youth Zone here: Get Involved – Volunteer. We also have vacancies here: Get Involved – Vacancies
To support WEST in our first year of opening, you can donate here: Support Us
