“Feelings groups is, well, there’s no way to explain, but it’s like a big family that’s aways there for you. They helped me get through it all. It helps with our feelings and mental wellbeing. It is a safe place.” L. H., Year 6
It’s hard to learn when you’re hurting inside. Beyond Words, a national charity for visual and emotional literacy, launches its Radio 4 Appeal this Easter Sunday to raise £25,000 to address the children’s mental health crisis currently gripping the UK.
The pioneering charity creates word-free stories about real life, encouraging readers to add their own words. Pictures are often better than words to tell stories about relationships, especially when things are going wrong.
The books are used within Feelings Groups, a powerful new initiative that provides peer-group support to give children and young people a safe place to talk about their feelings, helping emotional healing to take place.
The pictures encourage children to use their own words and lived experience to explain what they think is happening.
Over time, the children start to speak about their own lives and not the characters. They begin to relate the stories to themselves. The children develop the emotional vocabulary to express how they feel. These groups are a safe place where children who have suffered trauma learn they are not alone. They are able to talk about their fears, worries and confusions without judgement, in an empathetic, encouraging environment.
Feelings Groups are already making a huge difference in South Yorkshire. Now the charity wants to bring this success to the rest of the country. It costs about £2,000 to help one school start a Feelings Group, or about £200 to help a child to join one at their school.
Marie Grant, Mental Health and Bereavement Support Worker, creator of Feelings Groups and presenter of the appeal, said: “I started Feelings Group where I was teaching to enable children to talk about their feelings in a safe environment. The group has had an amazing impact on the children’s mental health and education. Now I train and support other people to run Feelings Groups.”
Donations can be made to the Appeal by searching online for BBC Radio 4 Appeal or visiting their website. For more information about Beyond Words and Feelings Groups, visit their website.