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Notts events set to inspire this Children’s Mental Health Week

Two exciting mental health and wellbeing events for young people will take place in Nottinghamshire this week as part of Children’s Mental Health Week.

More than 1000 children and young people from schools across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire are expected to attend the free NottAlone Live events, which will promote positive mental health, wellbeing, and resilience.

Each event will host main stages to showcase local talent and inspiring talks, hold workshops for the children to take part in, and local mental health and wellbeing services will offer activities and provide information about how they can support young people.

The events will take place at Notts County Football Ground and the YMCA Community and Activity Village in Newark on 6 and 8 February respectively.

Children’s Mental Health Week, which takes place between 5 – 11 February, celebrates a new theme each year, with the 2024 theme being ‘my voice matters’.

This theme is being carried throughout the NottAlone Live events, with workshops including writing thoughts and feelings down to create spoken word poetry, positive affirmations, and making your voice heard.

Dr Orlaith Green, NottAlone co-founder, Principal Educational Psychologist and Group Manager, Psychology and Inclusion Services at Nottinghamshire County Council, said:

“When we first had the idea for NottAlone, these sorts of events were a distant dream. To see them come to life is such a fulfilling experience and I can’t wait to see the young people getting involved and learning about their mental health.

“NottAlone was created with the ambition that every young person in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire will know where to go if they need support with their mental health.

“A visit to the NottAlone website will give them information and advice on mental health topics, as well as connect them to a wealth of support services which are all free to access. It’s a truly invaluable resource, and to bring NottAlone to life at events where young people can interact with workshops and services in a face-to-face environment is so rewarding.”

Dr Maddi Popoola, NottAlone co-founder, Educational Psychologist and Mental Health Support Team Service Manager at Nottingham City Council, said:

“After our first NottAlone Live event last year, our whole team was buzzing with excitement and I just wanted to hold on to that feeling, knowing we’d had such a positive impact on all the young people that had attended the event.

“We wanted to go bigger and better this year, so we are hosting two events in different locations to make NottAlone Live even more accessible to schools across the city and county of Nottinghamshire. It means we can reach even more children and young people this year to spread the message that no matter how old you are or what your situation is, you are not alone.”

Places at the invitation-only events were snapped up quickly, with schools fully booking the events within days of the bookings opening.

The NottAlone Live events will be hosted by NottAlone in collaboration with the Mental Health Support Teams at Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council.

NottAlone is a partnership between Nottinghamshire County Council, Nottingham City Council and the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board.

Find out more about NottAlone on its website www.NottAlone.org.uk or follow it on social media by searching for @NottAlone1 on X or Instagram.