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Young people have been given a raft of tools to help them to take care of their mental health.

Forest Hall School marked Mental Health Awareness Week with a programme of activities, including wilderness walks, mindfulness colouring, meditation and a tea and talk session.

The week, with a theme of nature, saw the school work with Let’s Talk Stansted to raise awareness and get the conversation going around mental health and wellbeing.

Sarah Power, enrichment lead, said: “We put together a timetable to allow students to try new things to help with their mental health. We put together lunchtime clubs, as well as Wellbeing Wednesday where Year 7, 8 and 9 were taken off of their usual timetable to take part in yoga, gardening, art and boxercise and to watch documentaries on the environment and improving our mental health.

“It was about creating a space for children to come and talk, to speak to each other and to the adults within school. We want them to see there are adults in school they can trust and talk to. There was a huge buzz around school and lots of positive discussions going on.

“The hope is our young people continue with these activities at home. By exposing them to new things this week, they will be able to take something away from it and have tools to help them if they are feeling worried, anxious or stressed. Everybody needs that, especially after the year we have had.”

Ben, Year 9 student, said: “We took some time to be more aware of what mental health is and we reflected on our own mental health. The activities we participated in were beneficial as we did exercise, meditation and research and discovered the benefits of these.”

Classmate Ellie said: “I liked the week because it helped me to manage my feelings in a safer way.”