Book of Beasties Head of Sales, Penelope Diaz Manso donates mental health support and training to Family Lives, Ealing to support Afghan and Syrian refugees this Christmas.

[Message from Penelope]

There are times in childrens’ lives when supporting Mental Health & Wellness is particularly crucial to ensure their ongoing development, such as times of change and following periods of trauma. The current crises in Afghanistan and Syria have left many families displaced with children coming to the UK to seek refuge experiencing massive upheaval, culture shock and often with deeply traumatic experiences fresh in their minds. It is our responsibility as education service providers to provide these and all children with positive guidance to a happier self.
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With this in mind, in the lead up to the festive period I have been engaging with local charities that support such families, on behalf of Book of Beasties; deploying our solution to enable children to open up about their experiences, build long term Emotional Literacy and develop strategies to support their own Mental Wellness independently.
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I am proud to announce as a result of this we have now managed to secure a partnership project with the charity Family Lives targeting and distributing £1,000 worth of our mental wellness card game sets to families adjusting to a new life in the UK this Christmas. We will be following this up in the New Year by backing this initial support with targeted training to empower parents and carers to leverage the full capability of this solution to derive maximum benefit for our local young refugee population.

Family Lives provides targeted early intervention and crisis support to families who are struggling. The service is a community-led program that harnesses the passion, energy and skills of volunteers from the Afghan and the wider community.

Each year a team of 10 volunteer befrienders supports 20 Afghan families for up to six months; building confidence whilst providing guidance on parenting  and practical skills for families that have gone through particular hardships giving them the tools to build better family relationships.