Here's how Liverpool ONE is championing Children’s Mental Health Week

Wellbeing journals, ‘worry stones’, and affirmation workshops are among the activities taking place at Liverpool ONE to mark Children’s Mental Health Week.

Running from today (Monday 6^th February) until 12^th February, the week-long national event shines a spotlight on the importance of young people’s mental health and wellbeing, with organisations and individuals across the country being encouraged to take part.

And each year, Liverpool ONE invites local charities from the Liverpool City Region to stage a series of workshops that are dedicated to improving children’s mental health.

Kicking off the schedule of events is a Worry Stone Workshop run by Bootle-based Ykids, which works across Merseyside to enhance the lives of children and their families in some of the most deprived areas.

The session, which takes place on Tuesday 7^th February at Cass Art, will encourage young people to create worry stones from polymer clay and write down their feelings in wellbeing journals.

Tapping into the theme of this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week, ‘Let’s Connect’, Tiny-Art-Big-Connection will be held by Conquer Life, an organisation dedicated to empowering young people’s aspirations and promoting emotional resilience.

Taking place on South John Street on Wednesday 8^th February, the event will see attendees draw or write on a sticky note about how they feel connected to the wider community.

Wirral-based charity Open Door will run origami affirmation workshops at John Lewis on Friday 10^th February, while Creative Spaces Co will be doing affirmation badge making at The Bluecoat on Sunday 12^th February.

Donna Howitt, Place Strategy Director at Liverpool ONE, said:

“Promoting good mental health and wellbeing, especially among young people, are at the heart of our community initiatives at Liverpool ONE and the work that we do through the Liverpool ONE Foundation.

“We’re seeing a real shift in how we talk about mental health, which is great, so encouraging this from a young age and championing the idea of expressing worries or concerns is vital.

“We’re thrilled to be working with such incredible charities and organisations who are in the heart of our communities making a real difference to young people’s lives every day.

“Our programme of events this week is about giving those organisations a platform to reach more people, educate families on the types of support that is out there, and highlight the need for us all to prioritise our own wellbeing.”

Liverpool ONE’s calendar of workshops this week is part of the retail and leisure destination’s Share the Love campaign, which was kickstarted by a massive giveaway of brightly-coloured flowers on Blue Monday last month.

The initiative, which runs until the end of February, has been created to put the spotlight on positive wellbeing and mental health.

Donna added: “Our Share the Love campaign is something we feel very passionate about.

“Whether it’s giving away flowers on Blue Monday or bringing back our Happy to Chat tables, which encourage visitors to sit and chat to someone they’ve never met before, we are part of the community and feel it’s important that we do what we can to support local people’s wellbeing.”