#Chances4Children: Youth Sport Trust launches free wellbeing tools during children’s mental health week

The charity will share a series of lesson plans, top tip videos from former sports stars and wall planners to help young people manage their mental health during the pandemic. 

• MPs to examine progress in children’s mental health services

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It comes as new research by the Youth Sport Trust reveals that physical education, sport and exercise helped 27 per cent of young people feel better during lockdown in the summer.

Meanwhile, 40 per cent of young people polled said that not being able to take part in sport during lockdown was something that had made them feel worse.  

Amy Truelove, 14, from Nottingham is one of the 7,000 young people to benefit from the strategies taught by the Youth Sport Trust over the last three years as part of the charity’s Active in Mind programme. 

Amy has scoliosis, and following numerous operations, she found it hard to take part in PE and be part of school life. The pain management side of the condition also impacted her mental health. 

She said: “When I moved up from primary school into secondary school, I was quiet, shy and found it hard to communicate with my teachers and couldn’t take part in PE lessons.

“I would get frustrated and not know how to process my emotions, but Active in Mind has given me strategies for life. 

“It is so important, especially in the times we currently find ourselves in, to make sure the mental health of young people is getting the attention that it deserves. All too often my generation is overlooked in times of crisis and just expected to cope with everything going on around them and function as they normally would. 

“Active in Mind has made a really big difference to me personally because it has made me feel more confident, not only in sports but also in school and everyday life. I feel happier and healthier both mentally and physically since starting it and I like how nobody can judge you, you’re able to be yourself around others.”

Like Amy, 61 per cent of young people on the programme also reported that it had helped them to cope better with their mental health and told the charity that it helped them to feel more relaxed. 

Chris Wright, head of health and wellbeing at the Youth Sport Trust, said: “Research has shown us that 500,000 children and teenagers who had no mental health problems before Covid-19 now need support in 2021. No one could have predicted the arrival of this virus, but we can control our response to it. 

“As a charity we believe the role of physical activity and sport will be vital in young people’s recovery and setting them up to be the healthiest and happiest children in the world. I’ve seen the life changing impact Active in Mind can have and it’s why we’ve taken the decision to make it widely available for every child who needs it.”  

All the free resources can be viewed and downloaded from the Youth Sport Trust’s website: www.youthsporttrust.org/active-mind.