Darlington MIND hosts free mental health workshops throughout the summer holidays for young people.

Over the summer holidays, Darlington MIND, the local mental health charity, will start their new online workshops aiming to help young people aged 11-18 years old, to explore some key topics which affect daily life. These free workshops (via MSTeams) are open to young people from all over the local area to help them better understand their own mental health and develop skills to deal with the common issues they face. Darlington MIND will be offering three or more sessions during every week of the summer holidays. Also as we all move out of Covid-19 restrictions it’s an opportunity to discuss our experiences in a safe space to share how our mental health may have been affected by the pandemic and look forward to better times.

Darlington MIND will be delivering their successful, well developed workshop programme, which includes the following key topics:

– Mental Health Awareness

– Self-Esteem and Resilience

– Body Image

– Exam Anxiety

– Self-Harm Awareness

– Mindfulness

– Become a Peer Mentor – Training

– Informal Drop-in Chats

This project is funded by Children In Need and enables Darlington MIND’s team to help young people from across south of County Durham, Darlington, Hambleton and Richmondshire. Darlington Mind knows from its experience that these topics are really important for young people to learn about, as it will educate and help them and their peers, moving forward, especially in these uncertain times to help understand and manage their own mental health. Darlington MIND also wants to help stimulate conversations and seeks to tackle stigma surrounding mental health which stops many people from reaching out for support which would make a real difference to maintaining health and wellbeing. The workshops may have formal subjects, but they are led by the Young People’s Team who bring their unique, warm and positive approach to make the experience fun and interactive.

Darlington MIND’s CEO, Simon Davidson, said “During the summer holidays, when they have more time on their hands, we want to help young people to come together online for some fun, informative and practical workshop sessions”. He continued “Darlington MIND has helped thousands of young people to address the key issues affecting their lives such as body image, bullying, depression and self-esteem. Our workshops will help increase awareness of mental health and self-harm and improve emotional resilience. You can make new friends in a safe, non-judgemental and positive space where you will be heard”. Certificates of attendance are available for those who attend, meaning that it would be great in a record of achievement including on a UCAS application to universities.

Sign-up Form: https://forms.gle/aNjwgMCPy8wGfAZHA (also available via Darlington Mind)

For further information, images, interviews or to request anything else, please contact Matthew Hoss at Darlington MIND (Matthew.hoss@darlingtonmind.com)