Mental Health Campaign

A STANDARD DAY

With Mental Health still showing in the top 5 issues for Make Your Mark consultation the Oldham Youth Council wanted to keep working towards making a difference with this issue.  Over the past 8 years, starting with the SNAP campaign then the I Love Me campaign  the youth council had raised awareness of mental health with young people but felt nothing had had a major impact.  In consulting  it was felt that one of the issues was the way that young people felt when engaged with professionals and the lack of relationships with those professionals.  From that the Youth Council, in collaboration with Oldham Theatre Workshop, produce the 2 hour training session A Standard Day.

A Standard Day is a performance, originally commissioned by the Library service.  The performance was used as inspiration for young people to work with an artist and writing to produce a graphic novel called Jack and Lucy.  The half hour piece highlights 3 young people and the issues that they face that impacts negatively on their mental health. 

During the training, after watching the performance, the professionals use the images produced for mental health awareness week to start conversations about the pressures young people face.  This open discussions allows the professionals to discuss what impact different settings have on young people and how they can reduce that impact with their own roles.  The cast then join the workshop groups allowing professionals to discuss with young people, in a safe environment, how they feel and what they are looking for when it comes to helping them.  All of the workshops are facilitated by our very own Youth Councillors.

CARDS USED IN THE TRAINING

Card designs