Rotherham United are proud to be dedicating tonight's fixture with Wigan Athletic at AESSEAL New York Stadium to Children’s Mental Health Week 2022.
This year’s theme is Growing Together and the week long initiative began on 7th February, with schools, youth groups, organisations and individuals across the UK uniting to shine a spotlight on the importance of the mental health of children and young people.
Societal issues such as the pandemic have had an effect on the mental health of many people across all walks of life, but a group that so often get overlooked are children.
Shockingly, one in six children and young people have a diagnosable mental health problem and many more struggle with the likes of bullying and bereavement.
Our Community Sports Trust have strived to tackle this issue through their ‘Joy of Moving’ programmes, in order to help students create a healthier lifestyle whether that be through exercise or diet.
The Trust have delivered up to 20 classes to over children across the previous two half-terms and are aiming to increase this number even further throughout 2022, with more information on how you can get involved featured in today’s programme.
Schools across the country got involved with Dress to Express Day, where pupils were encouraged to use clothing and colour to express themselves.
This involved a variety of outfits, including dressing up as their favourite superhero, TV character or simply wearing their favourite clothes.
Knowing the importance of children being able to truly reflect their personality and more importantly, bring a smile to their faces, our Community Sports Trust were – as ever – heavily involved in the day, taking the time to speak to Georgie and Freddie about their own experiences of the day.
On top of the initiatives that took place, our Trust also run a girls football session every Wednesday named Weetabix Wildcats, which looks to help participants make new friends in a sociable, non-competitive environment for young people aged between five and 11.
The annual campaign was launched by Place2Be in 2015 and now in its eight year, the charity are hoping their efforts can continue to encourage more people to spread the word.
Place2Be is a children’s mental health charity that provides counselling and mental health support and training in UK schools, using tried and tested methods to back up their own research.
For more information on their work, please visit https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/.