This week we celebrate World Mental Health Day with a special launch from our counselling team. 

A new ‘Shelf Help’ library has been installed at our Youth Services site on the Westgate Road. The library will give children, young people and their families the chance to dip into or borrow books that support them to understand and manage different aspects of mental health. 

The novel idea was dreamt up and delivered by the counselling team, with Meera Vedhara being appointed the official librarian. 

The library already boasts an exciting range of useful, inspiring and specialist books handpicked by the team for a range of ages and subjects, including anxiety, managing stress, dealing with trauma, neurodivergence and grief, even on how our brains works. 

The team hope to grow the collection over time and that the libraries place within the waiting area of the service will encourage both people accessing support and visitors to explore its shelves and find something helpful or encouraging. 

Meera commented, “It’s been really exciting seeing the books arrive over the last few weeks. Our hope is that the library will become a valuable part of people’s experience with Children North East. Sometimes understanding more about your experiences can help you find different ways to help yourself and to feel less alone along the journey.” 

World Mental Health Day is an international day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy against social stigma. It’s a chance to talk about mental health in general, how we need to look after it, and how important it is to talk about things and get help if you are struggling. 

Claire Austin, Clinical Coordinator at Children North East, commented, “The library is a space to offer books that may not be as accessible and give ideas to allow more open communication and understanding to better understand the problems faced by young people. These are the books we love, use and feel underpin our work and if parents can take some of that home and offer that away from counselling then we can only hope complexities lessen and emotional understanding is gained.” 

If you have any books or resources relating to mental health which you would like to donate to the library, get in touch with Meera at [email protected]. 

Children North East was proud this weekend to be recognised as part of the national Third Sector Awards. Despite not taking home the prize in our category, the night was a poignant celebration of a sector providing a lifeline to millions in a very difficult year. 

Sharing the inspiring work of individuals, organisations, grassroots groups and partnerships, it put a spotlight on the collective impact of our sector and the essential services it provides to our communities across the UK. 

Alongside partners Child Poverty Action Group, we were shortlisted for the Charity Partnership of the Year Award for Cost of the School of the School Day, which battles the impact of child poverty on pupils and their families.  

We were shortlisted us alongside nationally recognised organisations, including Samaritans, Mind, Hospice UK and Shout. Citizens Advice and The Trussell Trust won on the night, with their ground-breaking Help through Hardship helpline project, that rapidly responded when traditional services started to close during covid to provide foodbank referrals and now supports people living in poverty to maximise their income. 

Leigh Elliott, Chief Executive comments, “We are incredibly proud to have been nominated alongside such esteemed charities for this national award for our work on Cost of the School Day with our brilliant partners Child Poverty Action Group. The project has improved the lives of 100,000s of UK pupils by supporting schools to mitigate financial barriers to participation. Today’s celebration was a wonderful acknowledgment of the hard work and innovation of the teams that made this impact possible.” 

Children North East continues its Poverty Proofing work across the North East and around the UK, including having funding secured to work with 150 schools across the region in the 2022 to 2023 school year. 

“One aspect of the audit that surprised us was how much pupils remembered difficult moments. As teachers, we are mindful of things like asking about holidays and birthdays… but sometimes we just don’t know what we don’t know. Hearing from the children their experiences and how they were sometimes affected for a long time was really eye-opening.”

Gemma Robertson is the Headteacher of Greenfields Community Primary School, located in the village of Wideopen. Serving 300 pupils, the school is close to the idyll of the Big Nature Water Reserve and green space, but also faces the challenge of being on the fringes of a sprawling city.

Greenfields is in a catchment area that Gemma has seen slowly changing under the pressures of cost of living and Covid. Taking part in a Poverty Proofing Audit was a way to ensure the school was continually developing its approach to meet pupil and family needs. She explains, “We know some parents will be struggling more than usual or maybe struggling for the first time under current financial pressures. We always want to explore how we can do better and are really keen to ensure no family feels they have to ‘keep up’. The audit also took the pressure off staff by giving us insights to act on.”

Greenfields already has a history of innovation when it comes to reducing inequality to remove barriers for pupils living in poverty.

“As a Leadership Team we’ve been conscious of the ideas behind poverty proofing for a while, partly because we all have diverse experiences that include working in schools in very disadvantaged areas.”

Their ideas have included simple fixes, “We’re very strict with party invites. It’s not just about people being left out from one birthday, when they see invites being shared some children may feel embarrassed that their family could not afford a birthday party.”

Where they have been trailblazers is in breaking down barriers to enrichment activities. “We used Pupil Premium money to buy sets of KS1 and KS2 bikes. Riding a bike is a valuable life skill but we know not all parents can afford a bike. Every year group has ‘bike week’ to use the bikes for activities and students who don’t know how to ride a bike have the opportunity to learn with one of our teachers in the gym at break time. We’re very proud this year that every one of our nursery children can ride with stabilizers!”

Trips are also a key area for Gemma and the team. “We work very hard to limit the cost of trips. We’ve stepped away from third-party providers and challenged ourselves to write a new rulebook. We’ve tested different times of year, new locations and activities and, because coaches are a significant cost, utilising public transport – more of a challenge when we are served by only one bus route!”

Given so much work was already going into removing barriers for pupils, how was the Poverty Proofing ® audit received?

“We found it really good. We knew it would be really good. The team made it easy to engage the staff. This type of process always raises the concern that staff will fear being judged, but the Children North East team came in and really clearly explained the process.

“The pupils also really enjoyed it. They loved meeting new people and talking about themselves. I think especially since Covid we haven’t had many visitors so it was nice for us to see them engaging with people from outside the school.”

Greenfields’ audit will be used to inform changes when school starts up again in September, with some work already beginning.

“We are looking at our curriculum and thinking about diversity. This process has really helped us reflect on how we include a child’s financial background in that. Are we instilling our values that no one should be left behind in our pupils?”

“My message to schools considering going through the process is that it is a really positive thing. They don’t come in and rip apart what exists, they support you to listen to the pupils and reflect on how you can make things better for children and families. It’s a conversation.”

Meeting Ellie Brockhurst, you quickly get the sense that she is thoughtful and passionate about her work. When we met, she had just finished a long day supporting one of our summer activities for young people and had a shift at her part-time job ahead, but she’s still animated about what drives her. 

“One reason I think the work is important is to give disadvantaged young people more opportunities and experiences. For example, the young people today… it might be the only thing they’ve done all summer. Some of them only know their families and face challenges within their family life or as a result of that limited experience. Taking part in today might show them a new opportunity or ambition they didn’t know they had. Maybe in the future that will encourage them to go to college or pursue a career the didn’t know about.” 

We’re here to talk about a special moment. In the Spring, Ellie was nominated by our Young People’s Service Project Co-ordinator, Teresa Bromilow to attend the Lord-Lieutenant’s Garden Party, a celebration of volunteers and carers hosted at Alnwick Gardens. 

“I didn’t know anything about it until a beautiful invite arrived in the post and Teresa told me she had nominated me. It was really exciting.” 

She adds, “Teresa knows everyone! She’s been doing this a long time and really understands.” 

The event was a celebration of individuals going the extra mile for their communities and the people in them. Hosted by The Duchess of Northumberland, in her role as Lord-Lieutenant, guests were treated to speakers sharing the inspiring work of local charities, an afternoon tea, live music and the opportunity to enjoy the famous gardens. 

“The event was sponsored by Greggs. It felt odd to be at a posh sit-down meal with plates of Steak Bakes being served, but me and Teresa had a laugh. It was a lovely place.” 

Ellie started her volunteering role during the pandemic, enrolling as a peer mentor in her first year of studying a Forensic Psychology degree. Starting in the pandemic, at first all her mentoring was online. She has since worked with 3 “and a half” young people aged 11 to 16. For one young carer, she provided someone to talk to and share Tiktok dances with in the isolation of lockdown, another mentoring relationship saw regular dog walks turn into work experience with a local pet shop. 

She has now joined Children North East as an employee, taking on a Sessional Worker role as she gears up for a Masters.  

“My volunteering has given me interesting experience of working with diverse needs. Good experience. I also feel the impact it’s had on families, for those young people going out once a week really can mean the world. For some young people, if they didn’t have that contact with Children North East after they finish school, they’d lose that safety net.” 

When Teresa shared why she nominated Ellie you can see why the organisers couldn’t say no, “Ellie has been an incredible support to Children North East in her volunteer role. She started in a very difficult period of the lockdown, providing support to vulnerable young people facing some very new challenges. She is an amazing peer mentor and very dedicated in her approach to working with young people. I was very proud to be able to nominate her for this opportunity.” 

The Duchess of Northumberland commented on the event, “I hear so many moving stories of the things people do, for the benefit of others less fortunate, some working for charities, many just doing their own thing, frequently unnoticed, giving help where it is needed most. This is our way of saying ‘thank you’ to them for the really valuable work they do.” 

An event full of sunshine and smiles, as we took over 70 children and teenagers on the trip to Cullercoats beach, for a much-needed day of fun in what has been a difficult summer for many families. 

It was a special moment, harking back to the trip which started it all for us 131 years ago, when founders John Lunn and John Watson took children from the inner city on a trip to Tynemouth beach to help their health.  

Yesterday’s event was attended by groups from our different services, from families with little ones to youth groups. Splashing in the sea, beach volleyball, sandcastle competitions and an ice cream for everyone, fun in the sun was the goal. Some of the children on the trip had never been on a visit to the beach before, with one mum sharing it was only her second time. 

Jibran, aged 15, said, “It’s been really fun. Normally I would come to the beach a lot, but I’ve been put into foster care so I haven’t been able to do anything like this. I’m really happy I got invited to come. I’ve enjoyed digging holes, building sandcastles and going in the water.” 

One mum, Samah, said “We’ve really enjoyed it. It’s better than staying in and doing nothing. The children have really enjoyed it, they’ve got to play and meet each other. It’s really beneficial.” 

The trip was made possible by many of the charities 60 different services collaborating, including teams delivering youth work, domestic abuse recovery, family support, mentoring, counselling and community activities. 

Mandy Brown, Deputy Head of Families and Parenting, commented, “The beach trip came about as an idea because it links us back to where we first started as a charity. We have some families and young people who have never been to the beach. It’s important to provide opportunities like this, the beach is on our doorstep and there are people who have still never been. It’s difficult to share in words what it might mean for a family who have never had that experience of coming here before today.” 

Uniforms, trips, school lunches, PE kits, pencils and pens, dress down days and other school costs can be difficult to afford for low-income families. When children and young people can’t take part in opportunities because of cost, they miss out and feel excluded, and it is harder for them to learn, achieve and be happy at school. The Cost of the School Day calendar aims to help schools identify possible cost barriers during the academic year and think about some alternatives to make sure all children and young people can fully participate in education.

Throughout the calendar, we’ve included ideas and good practice examples from schools across England, Scotland and Wales who have taken part in the Cost of the School Day project. Importantly, we know that schools can have the most impact by listening to children.

You can flip through the calendar below, and download it using the download button. We recommend printing it on A3 paper to get enough space to add your own events and important dates to it.

Download the Calendar

Download the Welsh language calendar

To find out more about investigating the school day from the perspective of children and young people, please contact our team on [email protected]. If you find this calendar useful, you might also benefit from our other free resources.