Share a Smile promises to be as the name portrays, a vibrant local campaign to celebrate the nature of random acts of kindness, encourage an Eden-wide movement of these uplifting acts, and use this to contribute to the ongoing effort of destigmatising mental health.
The project, coordinated by Carlisle Eden Mind, is being driven by a group of 29 sixth form students from Ullswater Community College, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Appleby Grammar School and Kirby Stephen Grammar. These students are united and inspired by an excitement to make a meaningful difference in the local community, especially on an issue with such importance as mental health.
The year-long campaign is launching week commencing 4th February to coincide with this year’s Time To Talk Day, a day all about bringing people together, just for five minutes over a cup of tea, to have a conversation about mental health.
First of all, the group will receive Youth Mental Health First Aid training from Carlisle Eden Mind. This will facilitate them to go into and support local primary schools to foster an ethos random acts of kindness. The main event will be a Random Act of Kindness week, aimed at inspiring the Eden community to receive and share random acts of kindness. The group hopes that this in itself will foster a positive spirit within the community, and will also give Eden the platform to discuss and help to destigmatise the important topic of mental health.
Share a Smile is being funded by Eden Local Committee’s Children and Young People’s Working Group, part of Cumbria County Council. Members of this working group meet regularly to discuss issues relating to children young people in Eden, and following discussions with a range of stakeholders, including Public Health Nurses, Active Cumbria and Carlisle Eden Mind, they wanted to set up and fund this project with the aim of increasing the emotional resilience of children and young people in Eden.
This is an exciting and important local campaign run by enthusiastic young people- so watch this space!
