The Mental Health Family hour is an online show aimed at children and young people experiencing mental health issues and the parents, carers and teachers supporting them.
The initiative was set up by Sam Tyrer, founder of the Mental Health for Schools Education Programme, Change Talks, and Prevention and Engagement lead for Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, and Mental Health First Aider, educator and presenter Dave Cottrell, who operates online under the name Mindset By Dave.
Mental Health Family Hour came about during the COVID-19 lockdown - the show was a digital replacement for the in person Change Talks which are delivered to schools across Lancashire and South Cumbria. Both Sam and Dave wanted to ensure that during lockdown children were still getting access to PHSE style mental health education, so they launched a weekly show that would stream live on twitch.tv/mindsetbydave at 10am every Tuesday and then be available to watch later on YouTube.
The show covers a wide variety of mental health topics including anxiety, depression, coping strategies, suicide, drug use, self-esteem, eating disorders and social media use. Each episode lasts for over an hour.
Mental Health Family Hour aims to open up conversations around mental health between young people their parents and teachers. We encourage you to show these shows in your classroom, community group or home.
