Znaniye Foundation is incredibly proud to have received the National Lottery's Awards For All, Community Fund in 2019. Through this, we created weekly sessions to give youth support and encouragement, so they can develop soft and transferable skills that will help aid them with various areas of life, in and outside of school, such as leadership, communication, self-motivation, teamwork and more.
Young people will have the opportunity to fulfil their potential by exploring new avenues or working to develop areas they already enjoy.
The project fundamentally puts young people in the lead.
Our Confidence and Well-Being project also aims to support children and youth's Mental Health. Mental Well-Being is as important as their physical health, and paramount in supporting their mind for the capacity to learn, succeed and stay healthy. We hope that by providing workshops and resources to educate young people on different mental illnesses, coping strategies and proven ways to support themselves and their friends, they can become more aware and more able to balance their well-being and learning.
The Project
Overall the project's aim will be to help people to improve their confidence and wellbeing as well as reduce social isolation within the community. We want to aid people in self-progression and mental well-being. This will be a safe fun place for young people to become involved in activities that welcome everyone and are not readily available to all levels of society. We are excited to promote diversity and inclusiveness through this program and welcome people from all backgrounds to join in new experiences.
Some of our projects so far:
Writing Competition
Poetry Competition
Art Club
Singing Lessons
Teacher Training
Public Speaking + Performing
Free Online Lessons for all ages
World Mental Health Day Conference
& more....
Throughout the last Academic Year, we have run various activities supporting this project. For example the establishment of Singing and Music Lessons, which led to us entering both a 4 Year Old Student and a 24 year old Musician in a global Music Competition, where our Pianist one 1st Place in his category! (see right)
Additionally, the launch of our weekend Art clubs drew great success, building a waiting list and eventually holding an Exhibition for all parents to see!
Take a look at some of the students work over the year.
Adapting Our Work
Due to the importance of this project, and our goal to continue helping students develop - we decided to continue these projects during the Covid-19 Lockdown, and thus transitioned initially with running online regular and free training for teachers in E-Safety, and How to Effectively Run Online Classes. From techniques to keeping students engaged, how to keep children stimulated remotely and more, all taught by teachers with expertise in the area.
From the success of this, we began to transition more of our work online, choosing to focus on elements of Confidence and Wellbeing that we were being negatively exacerbated by Covid-19 and the national lockdown.
Whilst continuing to provide formal education to students online with our Summer School project, we ensured that students had other forms of support, using funding to provide support groups online and sessions for all ages on topics such as:
Self Acceptance
Assertive Critique and
Compliments
Gender Equality
Understanding LGBTQ+
Let's Talk about Volunteering
Let's talk about Feelings
Mental Health Awareness
Understanding Anxiety
and more...
World Mental Health Day 2020
To celebrate World Mental Health Day 2020 on the 10th October we at Znaniye Foundation hosted a Digital Conference, through our Confidence and Wellbeing Project and Funding. This year's theme set by the World Federation of Mental Health was Suicide Prevention. This online conference was open to Parents, Adults, Young Adults and Children from 10+. It is vitally important to highlight to all young people the power that a conversation could have. A short conversation with another person could make the difference between life and death to someone who is suffering from suicidal thoughts and ideation.
The Leader of the Conference, Alexis Watkins, is a Mental Health Professional who is the Mental Health Lead for Znaniye Foundation. She has a wide range of experience in both Mental Health and Education and joined Znaniye Foundation in 2020 due to her passion for improving the mental wellbeing of young people.
Alexis was an elected Member of Youth Parliament for Ealing from 2012-13, where she campaigned to raise awareness of Youth Mental Health issues and for mental health education to be taught in the British school curriculum. Alexis’s drive to educate young people on mental health difficulties is affecting positive change into young peoples lives across London.
During this incredibly engaging conference, not only did we cover discussing and understanding what mental health is, but we also touched upon subjects of Depression & Anxiety, Psychosis Introduction, Fighting the Stigma that Surrounds these Illnesses, Suicide Awareness & Prevention, Active Listening with 5 tips to Help, and Learning Coping Strategies.
Alongside Alexis and the Znaniye Foundation Team, we were joined by esteemed guests such as James Murray, Ealing MP; CEO of Young Ealing Foundation, Elly Heaton-Virgo, a panel of young speakers; and even a Music Performance!
Mental Well-Being and Support
Mental Well-Being is as important as their physical health, and paramount in supporting their mind for the capacity to learn, succeed and stay healthy. After the World Mental Health Day Conference and our Confidence and Well-Being project also aiming to support children and youths' Mental Health, we wanted to provide important coping strategies and support lines, so that anyone experiencing mental health issues, or have a loved one who is, can easily access the right tools and resources needed.
As the Mental Health Foundation's theme this year being Suicide Prevention, we have added their advice acronym 'WAIT' which provides advice for us to help someone who is feeling suicidal.
W
WATCH OUT for signs and distress and changes in behaviour. These changes might be uncharacteristic of the person E.g. social withdrawal, excessive quietness, irritability, uncharacteristic outburst, crying, looking and appearing blank in mood, appearing angry, weight loss or gain, signs of self-harm, talking about death or suicide.
A
ASKING about suicide does not encourage it, nor does it lead a person to start thinking about it; in fact it may help prevent it, and can start a potentially life-saving conversation.
It is important to create a safe space for the person in question when asking them this. This might not be in a group of people and might be better one to one. Asking twice how someone is can give them the opportunity to speak openly. Most people instantly reply ‘I’m good thank you, how are you?’ so you might not find out what is actually going on in their lives. It is important to not keep things in and speak about our feelings.
I
IT will pass, assure your loved one that with help, their suicidal feelings will pass with time
Ensure that you are actively listening to the person. Do not get overwhelmed or stressed if someone tells you that they feel suicidal. If someone tells you that they feel suicidal it will be more distressing for them if you say you are worried and over react. Reassure them that their feelings will pass and explore with them the reasons why they feel that way.
It is important to keep the person safe and if you think there is immediate risk, always dial 999.
T
TALK to others, encourage your loved one to see help from a GP or health professional
Sometimes it is the little things that can help people and no one is expected to or will have all the answers. If you are extremely concerned about someone who has expressed feeling suicidal, please ensure that you make someone professional aware of this. If you are a young person, this may be a Teacher, GP, Counsellor, Mentor, Safeguarding Lead, Parent or Guardian or Nurse at your school.
If you yourself are feeling like ending your life, please call 999 or go to A&E and ask for the contact of the nearest crisis resolution team. These are teams of mental health care professionals who work with people in severe distress.
Below that are some numbers and contacts you can reach out to, if you or a loved one is needing support and help.
Important Support Numbers Within Ealing & London:
999 - in case of emergencies
Your GP - First point of call
Ealing Child and Adolescence Mental Health Services (CAMHS) - 0208 354 8160
Ealing SPA (Adult services) - 0300 1234 244
Shout - Free & confidential text line - text SHOUT to 85258
Samaritans - Offering a 24-hours a day, 7 days a week support service. Call them FREE on 116 123. You can also email jo@samaritans.org
Papyrus - A dedicated service for people up to the age of 35 who are worried about how they are feeling or anyone concerned about a young person. You can call the HOPElineUK number on 0800 068 4141, text 07786 209697 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org
NHS Choices - 24-hour national helpline providing health advice and information. Call them free on 111.
C.A.L.M. - National helpline for men to talk about any troubles they are feeling. Call 0800 58 58 58.
Support After Suicide Partnership offers practical and emotional support on their website for people bereaved and affected by suicide.
Websites:
MHFA - https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/
https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mental-health-helplines/
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/
Medication and conditions information:
https://youngminds.org.uk/youngminds-professionals/our-projects/headmeds/
https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/
The Future of Our Project
We will be continuing to grow and run this project throughout 2020. Whether this means through online detached youth work and one-to-one support, or through our in person settings and events when these can run safely and securely. Projects coming up this term include Maths Club and Art Club which will soon be able to be booked here.
As with all our projects, we are always looking for people to join us in our efforts, submit ideas and send through feedback. If you are interested in joining sessions, information on past events, or want to volunteer with our team, we would be delighted to hear from you at:
contact@znaniyefoundation.co.uk
serena@znaniyefoundation.co.uk
Get Involved!
Children and youths' Confidence and Well-Being is so crucial for their growth and health, that we are always looking for volunteers to help, support children and spread awareness of mental well-being. If this is something you are interested in, please click here to find out how you can get involved!
If you cannot get involved this way or you do not have the time, you are more than welcome to donate a little towards the charity and the constant work we will be doing, in order to combat the education gap that the pandemic has worsened. See below the link and details of ways to contribute:
ZNANIYE FOUNDATION CHARITY BANK DETAILS:
ZNANIYE FOUNDATION
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 30049691
SORT CODE: 23-05-80