SCHOOLS from Basingstoke and surrounding areas are being invited to sign up for a free festival as part of a national campaign to help improve awareness and education of mental health for children and young people.

The School Festival, named Now and Beyond, is being organised by youth mental health charity, Beyond, and supported by Basingstoke-based mental health training and consulting company, Simpila Mental Health.

It will be hosted virtually on Wednesday, February 9, as part of the Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week from February 7 to 13.

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According to the charity, the festival is an opportunity for schools and parents to access special live sessions and resources to help with classroom plans.

Time flexible lesson plans are available to download, free of charge. Lesson plans have been developed for KS1-KS4 that focus on one of three themes: kindness, gratitude or resilience.

It will also have an exercise session with body coach Joe Wicks.

Schools can access the festival here.

Simpila founder Matthew Holman has been building momentum around mental health awareness in Basingstoke by supporting events, offering free parent sessions and recoding episodes of his podcast Matt Holman talks Mental Health with local residents.

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In advance of the Beyond Festival, Matt also sat down with the Beyond co-founder Jonny Benjamin MBE, talking about his journey and the importance of growing support for our young people. This episode can be watched here.

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