Thank you for choosing to fundraise for Be Kind Movement (BKM) and welcome to the first step in your fundraising journey. You are joining a dedicated team who are committed to promoting the development of emotional intelligence (EQ) skills in children and young people through acts of kindness.
Please email us today to request a Be Kind Movement fundraising pack. This will take you through choosing your fundraising activity, how to set up a fundraising page, how to spread the word and what to do on the day. It is packed full of tips and advice to help you have as much fun and raise as much money as possible!
Why we need your support
The UK is suffering from a huge mental health crisis in children and young people today. In 2018, it was found that in England 1 in 8 children from the ages of five to nineteen had a diagnosable mental health disorder, which is roughly 1 in 3 children in every classroom. Covid-19 and the restrictions associated are only exacerbating this. Young Minds conducted its third survey in Autumn 2020 into the impact of Covid-19 on children’s mental health and found the following:
69% of respondents described their mental health as poor now that they are back at school; this has risen from 58% who described their mental health as poor before returning to school.
40% of respondents said that there was no school counsellor available to support students in their school.
Almost a quarter of respondents (23%) said that there was less mental health support in their school than before the pandemic, while only 9% agreed that there was more mental health support.
1 in 3 adult mental health conditions relate directly to adverse childhood experiences, suggesting that, if not dealt with early, the long-term impact is likely to be extremely detrimental. Childhood is meant to be a time without worry, but these statistics show the grim reality and scale of the mental health crisis in the UK; a national issue faced by many young people. If we fail to invest in improving children’s well-being and addressing their mental health, we face an escalation of an already serious crisis when issues (such as depression, self-harm, suicide rates) rises in prominence in the future.
How you can make a difference
Your fundraising efforts can help support children and young people in the following ways:
Delivering kindness workshops that build vital life skills such as resilience, compassion, courage, gratitude and mindfulness especially critical during the pandemic;
Developing an e-learning platform to support children's continual learning of EQ skills using creative resources beyond the classroom;
Building of ITSY animation that supports children’s thematic learning of inclusion, diversity, bullying, friendship, racism through guidance provided in the form of a friendly neighbourhood spider
£50 contributes towards our monthly operating costs
£100 provides 50 children with Kindness activity packs
£200 develops ongoing educational content for kindness workshops
£300 enables building of our e-learning platform the expansion of our Kindness Workshops to reach even more children with our Workshops – both in-person and virtually!
£500 contributes towards ITSY animation
£1000 funds four kindness workshops