Social media sensation Joel M has joined forces with NI depression charity AWARE in a bid to shine a light on children's mental health, particularly during the pandemic.
The collaboration was announced on Joel’s Instagram account to his 166K followers before Christmas, with the star sporting the campaign branded hoodie ‘Express Yourself’, talking about his passion for good mental health and the practice of mindfulness.
He is followed by 7 million people on TikTok and has his own show on BBC called ‘Life is Magic’ making him one of the most famous people in Northern Ireland right now. Never heard of him? Ask a kid!
2020 was a difficult year for us all, but perhaps the voices that haven't been heard as loudly throughout it is our country's children. They most certainly have had their routines altered, with school being at home, not being able to socialise with their friends, and hearing so much about the 'germs'. AWARE wants to find out what has been going on in their minds throughout the pandemic. Their fears, worries, or maybe even things they have enjoyed like more time with their parents or carers.
Karen Collins, Chief Executive at AWARE says: “AWARE is excited to announce that on children’s mental health week this February we are launching ‘Express Yourself’- a children’s mental health poetry competition. This is a creative way to allow our children the freedom to de-brief on life during a pandemic. And to allow us, and the adults in their lives, the education of seeing it from their perspective.”
“AWARE hopes that this will start many conversations on mental health in classrooms and at home so that our children can grow up knowing that they can talk freely about what is going on inside their minds at all times. Good or bad. We hope this campaign will add value to all of our lives. ”
Speaking about teaming up with Aware, Joel said: "I’m super excited to be a part of this incredibly meaningful campaign with AWARE. I hope that with creativity we can encourage the topic of mental health to be normalised among our country’s children! If you are a teacher or a principal in Northern Ireland of p6 & p7 students then please contact AWARE and enter this competition! I can’t wait to get reading these poems!”
The competition is to run throughout the month of February and the winning poem will be picked by the star magician.
Karen added: “We are so thrilled to have Joel M on board with us. He is a fantastic young role model for the future generation, and along with his dedication to practicing mindfulness, we know that he has such a passion to help us educate children on how to achieve positive mental health before they navigate into their teenage years. He has been so willing to be a part of this journey with us, and has generously offered to share his talent and spotlight with the lucky school winners!”
Not only are the lucky winners to appear on Joel’s socials in front of millions of people whilst he teaches them some magic tricks, the winning schools are in for a performance by the star magician at their own assembly! Imagine being the child that brought Joel M to your school for the day?
And in addition to that, AWARE has also promised to deliver for FREE a 6-week mindfulness course called ‘paws b’ to the top two winning classes, demonstrating their dedication to meeting the mental health need of this young generation! All of that on top of branded hoodies, amazon vouchers and much more.
So are you a principal or teacher of p6 & p7 students in Northern Ireland? Then hurry along and enter this unique competition by emailing poems@aware-ni.org to register your interest. Not convinced yet? To be convinced go to www.aware-ni.org/express-yourself for more information.
