Leading by example for Children’s Mental Health Week

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Davies Sports, part of Findel, helping raise funds for school children

 

The small team at Davies Sports committed to supporting this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week, an initiative devised and run by charity, Place2Be, by signing up to an activity challenge.

 

Davies Sports is one of four brands under parent Findel, an international supplier of educational resources for over 200 years. The aim of Davies Sports is to promote healthy lifestyles and wellbeing by encouraging schools to carry a wide variety of PE equipment, beyond the traditional sports of football, netball and basketball. We believe children can benefit when encouraged to do lots of different activities from handball to dance and other inclusive sports. Active engagement and freedom to express oneself through movement builds positive mental wellbeing. It doesn’t matter if it’s not to Olympic standards, it can be as simple as smashing a personal goal – it all still counts.

 

Findel was named an annual charity partner to Place2Be in June 2024, underpinning our company’s ethos of Growing education for generations. To support this partnership, and mark this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week, teams were asked to pledge a weekend of activity at the beginning of February. There was no prescribed way to do this; pledgers could walk, run, cycle or ski…..anything to clock up the miles and generate the funds.

 

A brand that leads by a healthy example

 

Achieving a healthy life balance is important for everyone. Learning the necessary skills to deal with life’s challenges has become increasingly vital for school children as happiness in the classroom declines. We believe in two things: teaching children coping strategies to deal with the rigours of life and leading by example by demonstrating healthy practices in adulthood. The theme of this year’s initiative Children’s Mental Health Week focused on building a resilient mindset. At Davies Sports we know that increased activity aids better wellbeing both mentally and physically. Therefore, during the wider Findel challenge our team succeeded in their pledges to walk, run and cycle, either alone, with friends or with our families, creating opportunities for connection. We smashed our goals and were a top contributing team to the challenge. By sharing our endeavours, and going beyond our comfort zones, we demonstrated the resilience needed to achieve our goals.

 

Key benefits of leading by example to achieve better children’s mental health

 

  • Encourages resilience: demonstrating healthy habits shows children how to face challenges and achieve personal goals.
  • Promotes physical and mental wellbeing: participating in physical activities reduces stress and boosts mood.
  • Builds connections: activities with family, friends, or colleagues create opportunities for meaningful interactions.
  • Sets a positive standard: adults practicing what they teach reinforces the importance of self-care and mental health.
  • Supports a worthy cause: raising funds for Place2Be helps extend vital mental health support to children in need.
  • Reduces screen time: Taking a break from digital distractions and immersing in nature promotes mindfulness, relaxation and only adds to the mental benefits!

 

Helping Place2Be shine a light on positive mental health

 

The charity is needed now more than ever. With 30 years of experience, Place2Be has been a cornerstone in UK schools, currently offering mental health support to children and young people in over 500 schools through one-to-one and group counselling sessions. The charity also provides expert training and professional qualifications to educators and mental health professionals.

 

In the last school year, Place2Be reached over 298,000 children, including 33,300 pupils who independently scheduled their own appointments to speak to one of its mental health professionals. We are proud to walk beside them to do our bit in helping support our future generations.

 

About Davies Sports

 

Davies Sports is part of Findel, an award-winning British resources supplier to the educational market for over 200 years. In June 2024 Findel announced an annual charity partnership with Place2Be, the founder of Children’s Mental Health Week.

 

We have many more resources schools can use alongside their Children’s Mental Health Week activity packs. Take a look here.

 

Author: Christine Wheatcroft for Davies Sports.