The Champions Board were invited to share with Education their concerns regarding returning to school after the Covid related school closures. They all had genuine fears and were able to raise these with Janice Collins who will write to all schools to share some of these so that they are fully informed of some of the anxieties our young people are feeling at this time.
The young people also talked about how their anxieties over school closure and catching or spreading Covid-19 to others in their family is impacting on their mental health and wellbeing. They raised to Janice that now more than ever schools need to be able to support them with their mental health. They had many suggestions on how schools can do this, including more staff trained in Mental First Aid, for the Mental Health Ambassador programme to be implemented (postponed because of Covid-19). The Champions Board will work jointly with Education to look at how these points can be taken forward and implemented.