Liverpool Mental Health Festival – Williamson Sq Event 8th Oct
Hundreds of conversations around children and young peoples’ mental health took place during the Liverpool Mental Health Festival, organised by the Liverpool Mental Health Consortium and on the 8th Oct at the Williamson Square event, representatives from the partnership engaged with many people of all ages.
Over the last few months, young people have been designing and creating mannequins representing various articles of the UNCRC. The fantastic creations were on display in various shops and venues for a mannequin trail, enabling opportunities to engage with young people and raise awareness of their rights as a child. This important subject will be the theme of next year’s NOW Festival.
Kath Thompson, from Merseyside Youth Association’s (MYA) Mental Health Promotion Team explained: “One of the areas we focused on is raising awareness of children’s rights – UNCRC (UN Convention on the Rights of a Child) – which is something many children and young people aren’t familiar with.
“We want to encourage children to be aware of these rights, most importantly that they have choices and the opportunity to exercise these rights in different situations, – they may be critical to life and protecting them from harm.
Louise Wardale, Keeping the Family in Mind Coordinator, Barnardo’s Action with Young Carers added: “As one of the CAMHS partners we work with young carers offering practical and emotional support; it’s important these children and young people understand their rights, they have the right to say what they think should happen, when adults are making decisions that affect them, and have their opinions taken into account”.
Simon Bowers, Clinical Vice Chair of NHS Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group added: “It was fantastic to see Liverpool CAMHS partners raising awareness of the support available in Liverpool around helping children and young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing.
“During the festival, throughout the city we hosted a range of activities; staff and volunteers on our stall at the Williamson Square event engaged with hundreds of people of all ages, whilst elsewhere we held training, workshops and networking opportunities for parents, carers and the young people’s workforce, there was even an immersive arts performance exploring the issues around eating disorders.
“This collaborative approach is what makes Liverpool CAMHS unique and it’s great to see the city making mental health everyone’s business.”
People were also asked about their experiences of school and how school life impacted or supported their emotional health and wellbeing, we received some mixed responses, some of which you can read in the picture below.
