Nottinghamshire County Council and NottAlone to host mental health and wellbeing event for young people at Newark’s YMCA activity village
More than 700 young people are set to benefit from a mental health and wellbeing event as part of Children’s Mental Health Week.
Students from schools across Nottinghamshire will attend the free NottAlone Live event in Newark, which will promote positive mental health, wellbeing, and resilience.
The event will host main stages to showcase the county’s talent and present inspiring talks, hold workshops for children to take part in, and mental health and wellbeing services from the area will offer activities and provide information about how they can support young people.
The event will take place at the YMCA Community and Activity Village on Thursday, February 8.
Children’s Mental Health Week, which takes place between Monday February 5, and Sunday February 11, celebrates a new theme each year, and 2024’s theme is ‘My Voice Matters’.
This theme is being carried throughout the NottAlone Live event, 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, added: “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.”
A second event is to be held today (February 6) at the Notts County Football Ground, an places at the invitation-only events were fully-booked by schools within days of the bookings opening.
The events are hosted by NottAlone, a partnership between Nottinghamshire County Council, Nottingham City Council and the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board, in collaboration with the mental health support teams at Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council.
