Over the school summer holidays, Solent Mind’s Heads Up project has been sharing the importance of mental wellbeing and the benefits of mindfulness with children in Southampton.

Heads Up Project Lead, Abby Oakley, visited Wicketz, a Lord’s Taverners community cricket programme delivered by the Hampshire Cricket Board, to host a mental health workshop for 20 girls aged 7 to 13.

Wicketz offers free-to-access cricket opportunities for a wide range of groups, ability and experience levels.

Abby hosted a session of activities as part of one of the project’s summer camps and spoke about how important it is to stop, breathe, and reflect during our daily lives.

She said: “We want to spread the word about the importance of mental wellbeing in our day-to-day lives. Mindfulness gives us the chance to stop and reflect, and it’s such a useful tool for everyone to adopt.

“It’s been fantastic to come along today to meet and chat to this wonderful group of girls. We hope they have found the activities useful.”

The Solent Mind workshop included games, colouring sessions, along with a range of mindfulness techniques. The group also learnt about new ways to look after their wellbeing.

Sam Moss is Urban Cricket Development Manager at Hampshire Cricket Board, managing all the urban cricket programmes in Hampshire.

Sam said: “It is important for all young people to learn the tools to help manage their anxiety and stress levels, and we’re so grateful that our girls could take part in this Solent Mind session today. A huge thank you to Abby for coming along.”

Solent Mind’s Heads Up is an educational children and young person’s project run in local schools, colleges and universities in Hampshire and the New Forest. For more information, visit: https://www.solentmind.org.uk/support-for-you/our-services/heads-up/