Gravesend school hosts sponsored walk to promote mental health

KentOnline / KMTV

Hosted for free at the local Cyclopark, the event saw hundreds of people in attendance all dressed for the 'glow in the dark' theme.   Nailah Mahomed reports.

Transcript

00:00Five, four, three, two, one, this was the moment the hundreds of people walked for mental health

00:16awareness in Gravesend. Organised by the Shears Green Junior School, this sponsored walk raised

00:22funds for mental health awareness and support services in the community. And the theme?

00:28Glow in the dark. But how did this come about? Well, earlier in the day, I spoke to the women behind it all.

00:36Just before Christmas, I decided that we needed to do something to build up on mental health and bring

00:42the community together. I think mental health affects quite a lot of us. Probably a lot of us

00:48not even realising how much it affects everyone, especially like children as well. So I just really

00:55wanted to put something together. So when I spoke to Matt, our head teacher, and said,

00:59look, why don't our staff do like a sponsored walk? And he was like, yeah, I think that's a

01:03great idea. And then it started off something so small. And tonight we are here at the cyclone park.

01:08People of all ages turned up to walk as many laps as they could around the circuit,

01:13with Hannah saying their mental health awareness should start from a young age.

01:17If you work with them now and work with how to express their feelings and be able to even get

01:24parents to be able to have that conversation, because I think it's quite hard. And I think

01:28some parents might not know how to tackle some of the conversations. Some of the kids might

01:33say things, but they might not quite understand what it actually means. So to just open their eyes

01:38to what it means now, and then hopefully we can stop them from going through life and struggling

01:44more when they are older. The walk was hosted at the cyclopark, who say the community events

01:50like this are vital. So it's really important to have events like this to raise awareness,

01:56to put profile on the fact that there are such high levels, but also to try and help people

02:04find solutions to this as well.

02:06It was an evening of facepaints, glow sticks, music, and even a group workout.

02:15Touches, let's go. Step, step, that's it. Give it a little down. Come on. Let's see those hips move.

02:24Hundreds of people have shown up here to show their support to the sponsored board here at

02:28the cyclopark. All of them here to help raise awareness to the mental health crisis that's

02:32here in Kent. In fact, Kent has some of the highest mental health cases across the entire

02:38country, which is why organisers say community events like this are just so, so important.

02:43In fact, every penny gained here tonight will be going to various mental health charities,

02:48both on a county level and nationwide.

02:50For many here today, every step taken was a reminder that mental health matters and that

02:55no one has to walk the journey alone. Naila Mahamid for KMTV in Gravesend.

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