About Us...

The Valley Mental Health Angels was set up in November 2020 as part of our Bright Stars Campaign.  We believe that children have suffered with their mental wellbeing following the global pandemic and we wanted to find a way to support those of a similar age to us, so they know who they can speak to and where they can find help with their problems and worries.

Bright Stars is "an amazing opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to work alongside businesses to develop their own business idea into a fully fledged business." This year, due to the restrictions following COVID-19, we weren't allowed to make and sell anything, and instead were asked to create a campaign about something we were passionate about.  This is where the Valley Mental Health Angels was born.

The Campaign:

Our campaign is called 'Spotlight: Safe, Supported, Special'.  We thought this was a good name as it means we are putting the spotlight on mental wellbeing.

Our mission statement is:

'To support local young people (8-14 year olds) to open up about the problems, worries and fears that they face.'

Everyone in the class has a job role, with the responsibilty for making the campaign a success.  We have a blog which shows our progress on the Centre for Leadership Website: https://www.cforlp.org.uk/bright-stars/primary/

Brilliant Schools

In school, we have been working with the Art of Brilliance team to focus on our own mental wellbeing.  Dr Andy Cope has kindly provided us with some content to support the Spotlight campaign...

There's help out there...

We have done lots of research to find charities that support children's mental wellbeing.  Click the links to find them:

Place 2 Be - This website has lots of hints and tips for children and comes recommended by royalty, following our exciting letter from Kensington Palace (see then link below for more information about this exciting news!)

Whitehaven News article about the letter from Kensington Palace

 Howgill Family Centre - This is a local organisation which supports mental wellbeing for children and their families.  If you are a pupil at the Valley, then the ladies from Howgill come in every Wednesday.

One Goal - We had some free training from One Goal called 'Unlock the mental health champion within.'  Teachers - this is definately one to check out to support your pupils.

Headspace - Take some time to relax and refresh when you feel a little overwhelmed and worried.

Build Your Happy Place - Have a go at this great game on the Childline website!

Childline - This is the page for children to access from Childline - this has lots of tips and advice for a range of worries that you may face.