As part of the Team London Young Ambassadors programme, Berrymede Primary School in Acton recently hosted a Health and Wellbeing Youth Summit during #iwillweek.
The summit brought together 100 students aged 7-14 years from 9 schools across west London. Young people learnt what the meaning of health and wellbeing means to both them and other figures in the community. They created action plans to tackle these issues, including one school which is now planning to hold a mental health awareness day.
Since the Young Ambassador programme began in 2013, over 130,000 young people have taken action on social issues such as homelessness, poverty and the environment, mental health and self-esteem. Bilal Khan from delivery partner WE Charity said:
Bringing schools together to explore the issues and plan how they can make a difference from a young age is important for building a better future. It gives young people the chance to learn from each other and see that they may not be alone in their understanding of the topics.
Sharmarke Dhaqane, pictured below, is an ex-Team London Young Ambassador and now an #iwill Ambassador. He spoke at the event about how he started volunteering at his school aged 16, before taking on a mentoring role to support young people affected by mental health in neighbouring schools.
He then organised the first-ever student-run mental health conference and also launched the Barnet Young People Mental Health Charter. It was wonderful to see such a captivated audience of young people listening to his social action journey, knowing that they were embarking on theirs also!
Find out more about the Team London Young Ambassadors programme.