Staffordshire charity asking for parents and teachers to say how to better support young children’s mental health
A Staffordshire-based charity is working with local schools and parents to find out how younger children’s mental health could be better supported. The charity, Bear Force, which helps to develop emotional resilience in children when they are very young, was founded after the loss of Richard and Susan Bland’s son to suicide, with the initials of their son Andrew’s name, given to a teddy bear which has become a symbol for the charity.
Richard, who lives in Stoke-in-Trent, is determined to raise awareness that according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the first five years of a child’s life are crucial to their developments and to protecting them from future mental health conditions. The charity, Bear Force helps deliver mental health support for local children aged under 10 through its Bear Force Buddies programme.
Working with charity, The Dove Service, which is based in Stoke-on-Trent, they have created an anonymous survey which they have been rolling out to schools, parents, and carers, to find out how their funding can be tailored to help as many children as they can.
Bear Force has attracted a lot of celebrity attention, with many stars, including Al Murray, Gyles Brandreth, Fiona Bruce, and Anton du Beke being photographed with AB, the teddy bear, who wears a genuine, made-to-measure RAF flying suit. The bear is also believed to be the world's most travelled bear, and has even accompanied HRH Prince William in flight, as well as taking part in an aerobatics display by The Red Arrows over Buckingham Palace.
“I could never have dreamt how far we would have come,” said Richard, who is currently asking schools to hold teddy bears’ picnics to raise awareness of young children’s mental health. My wife, Sue, has now also got involved in fundraising, handwriting notes for children to accompany dozens of brand-new teddy bears that have been donated to us which we in turn donate to children. Each note that she writes, asks children to talk about their worries.
Our objective now is for Bear Force to deliver solutions to help as many young children as we can, said Richard, we would ask parents, carers and teachers, to fill in the survey so we can better understand how we best can channel our support efforts.”
The survey can be found by going to: surveymonkey.com/r/VPRP2GW
All responses are anonymous and opinions will go a long way towards helping the charity to deliver tailored support for younger children's mental health.
