Forces Children Scotland 2 years ago
Forces Children Scotland has co-produced a new mental health and wellbeing digital platform with and for children and young people from armed forces and veteran families, thanks to funding from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust.
Titled Your Mind Matters, the digital platform aims to support children and young people from serving, reservist and veteran families to better understand and enhance mental health and wellbeing as well as to support parents, educators and professionals to better understand specific unique challenges this group can face.
There are many positive experiences associated with life in an armed forces and veteran family, however, this group can face mental health and wellbeing challenges unlike their civilian peers, including coping with uncertainty and the deployment of loved ones, regular relocations and the subsequent disruption to their education, activities, routines and friendships.
Consultations with over six hundred children and young people from armed forces and veteran families evidenced 80% of respondents telling Forces Children Scotland that they faced considerable challenges, when it comes to mental health and wellbeing, which indicated a compelling, urgent need to develop Your Mind Matters.
Through the charity’s commitment to adopting co-production principles in all aspects of its work, children and young people have shared their lived experience, creativity and views to co-develop the look and feel of the digital platform and to co-develop podcasts and resources about specific mental health challenges and how this can relate to forces life.
The charity is also piloting face-to-face mental health and wellbeing services for pupils at Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh through Your Mind Matters, with a view to expanding provision within greater numbers of schools working with children and young people from armed forces and veteran families across Scotland.
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