Introducing Speakers at this year’s first Youth in Mind Berkshire Conference at The Globe, Reading West
With young people’s voices being at the heart of the Youth in Mind Berkshire mental health and wellbeing conference on 18 May at The Globe, Reading, we’ll explore the data that gives us a clearer understanding of how we can provide children and young people with the best support and guidance to keep them safe and happy.
Professor Mina Fazel will present the findings of the Oxwell Student Survey, an online study that asks students aged 9-18 years over 200 questions on a range of well-being and mental health measures. In 2021, more than 30,000 students from 180 schools in four English counties, including Berkshire, participated.
Alyson Wylding and Carly Newman from No 5 Counselling will share their Restart Youth report. The project was devised and delivered by young, lived experience leaders from No5 alongside under-represented groups of young people who took part in trusting and transparent conversations about their needs. The report was also compiled and written by young people.
Berkshire Youth’s 2021 Youth Survey revealed the significant detrimental effect the pandemic has had on local young people. More than 750 young people across Berkshire responded to the survey, which has shown that Covid-19 has had a huge negative effect on young people’s mental health and wellbeing. David Seward, CEO of Berkshire Youth will talk about the report’s findings and how we should respond.
Louise Dalton (Consultant Clinical Psychologist) and Elizabeth Rapa (Senior Postdoctoral Researcher)
University of Oxford
The Brain Story: Building Brains for Lifelong Health
This workshop is relevant to anyone who works with children, families or adults. We will be introducing the audience to the science of brain development; This is essential information for everybody to understand how our earliest experiences can affect our long term mental and physical health. The core themes of the Brain Story are a key public health message, similar to our community understanding about the importance of diet or exercise for our physical wellbeing. The messages are relevant to everyone so we are working with partners from Health and Social Care, Thames Valley Police, Education, local judiciary and a range of voluntary organisations. Our aim is to establish a shared understanding across organisations and professional groups, with a shared language to talk about the impact of adversity and our role in mitigating its effects. The session will focus on how we can use our scientific understanding to improve outcomes for both children and adults in the future.
Chris Richards (Director)
Kimel Community
The Benefits of Neurodiversity and Community Engagement
Kimel encourages and develops hidden talents especially amongst autistic and other neurodiverse individuals so providing independence, social inclusion and success.
We also work with and encourage employers to refine and optimise their recruitment processes by providing CPD accredited mental health support programmes suitable for everyone so verifying implementation of Discrimination Equality & Inclusion policies.
We have recently opened a zero-food waste eco-centric cafe in Wokingham as a training ground for our youngsters which has also interestingly developed into a community hub allowing engagement amongst locals and visitors to flourish so promoting wellbeing.
The workshop will aim to broaden your knowledge, spark your interest and demonstrate the benefits of neurodiversity and community engagement. We will also show that by empowering these youngsters that they can fulfil their true potential, become leaders in their own field so contributing to society rather than just being a net recipient of benefits.
Bea Nigolian
Team Manager -Wokingham Prevention and Youth Justice Service
| Youth Justice Service: New Focus on Prevention Intervention |
| Youth Justice Services across the country are statutory services to supervise children who are subject to Court Orders and Out of Court Disposals. These days, Youth Justice Service have a very significant role delivering prevention interventions: we want to work with children soon enough to prevent them from entering the criminal justice system altogether. Youth Justice Services are multidisciplinary teams who are often trauma informed, use trauma recovery models of practice and use case formulation to better understand and intervene with the children that we work with. Emotional support and mental health services are indispensable partners for any Youth Justice Service to help them navigate the nuances of adverse childhood experiences and the impact that they have on children’s behaviour. |
Kayleigh Harris Head of Partnerships and Youth Service
Sport in Mind
How to Empower Children and Young People to Create Healthy Habits
This workshop will focus on the benefits of being active for children and young people’s mental health. Understanding the transferable skills of sport for everyday life and how to empower children and young people to create healthy habits.
Owen Joyce – Senior Mental Health Lead
Kennet School
| A Whole School Approach to Mental Health and Wellbeing |
| Kennet School is a secondary academy with 1800 pupils from year 7-13. Since 2017, we have developed our wellbeing policy for pupils, staff and parents. Our vision is for all to be supported to have good mental health which is so important to help children and young people to develop and thrive. Kennet School uses the “8 Principles” in our approach to mental health and wellbeing in promoting a whole school and college approach to mental health and wellbeing (“Promoting Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Wellbeing” DfE, 2015). KCSIE 2021: ‘Schools and colleges have an important role to play in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of their pupils. Mental health problems can, in some cases, be an indicator that a child has suffered or is at risk of suffering abuse, neglect or exploitation.’ At Kennet we have clear systems and processes in place for identifying possible mental health problems, including routes to escalate, and clear referral and accountability systems.’ The workshop objectives would be to share our practices with colleagues who work with children and adults to enable them to take some ideas away with them to apply into their own environment. |
Nicola Osborne (Network Manager, South East Region) and Robert Eyles
HSBC
HSBC UK Financial Capability Programme
HSBC UK have developed and supported financial education programmes across the UK, delivering free financial education to children and young adults aged 3 to 25 years old, through schools, colleges, universities, charities and youth groups. Our programmes are mapped closely to school curricula, and support the objectives of the Money and Pensions Service 2030 Strategy, to give 2 Million more children access to meaningful financial education. HSBC’s Financial Education programme provides: 1) Financial skills for learning – teaching money maths and supporting with understanding around value and numeracy 2) Financial skills for life – covering money choices, budgeting and connecting with the local community 3) Financial skills for work – helping with money management at work, employability and careers. Please join our workshop to find out more about the HSBC UK Financial Capability Programme and the support available to you and your organisation.
More speakers information coming soon.