Good mental health is defined as the state of someone who is “functioning at a satisfactory level psychologically”. This is an official definition which means a lot of people would find it hard to connect with so I’ve written a more accessible definition below.

Just like our physical health is about how healthy our body is our mental health is how healthy our mind is.

The most important thing to remember is that mental health is equally as important as our physical health!

Lockdown is a very unique situation that we are in, we are away from extended family and friends, we don’t have our usual routine, we are less active, spending more time on social media etc. So, it is very normal for our mental health to be affected during this time.

So, how do we know when we are struggling? Here are some things to look out for:

• Your appetite may change – you may eat more or less
• Your energy levels may change – you may feel more restless or more tired
• You might withdraw from talking to family or friends
• You might stop doing things that you enjoy
• You may feel tearful or emotional for no apparent reason
• Your sleep might be disrupted or you may sleep more than normal
• You might feel overwhelmed

When we notice that we are starting to struggle it is important to remember and be reassured that there are lots of ways that we can look after ourselves and lots of ways that we can seek help and support. 

There are lots of things that we can do and I will be making a range of different blog posts about ‘how to’ do a variety of things that will help maintain good mental health and wellbeing during lockdown, for example; how to change your diet to help your mental health, how to keep a routine during lockdown or how to practice mindfulness.

There are lots of things that we can do and I will be making a range of different blog posts about ‘how to’ do a variety of things that will help maintain good mental health and wellbeing during lockdown, for example; how to change your diet to help your mental health, how to keep a routine during lockdown or how to practice mindfulness.

I’d also like to mention that if you notice yourself feeling or experiencing any of the things I have listed above you can access this link youngminds.org.uk to access YoungMinds where you can get advice and help with lots of things to do with your mental health and wellbeing. This link childline.org.uk to ChildLine offers a range of support too, such as speaking to a counsellor online or reading forums with other young people’s concerns. It is also important to remember that speaking to family and friends about how you’re feeling is an easy way to get ongoing support. 

Thanks for reading and I’ll see you at the end of the week for my next blog post which will be called ‘How to be compassionate with ourselves in lockdown’

This year’s International Women’s Day theme is #EachForEqual. EmpowHER inspires young women and girls to lead change in their communities. Launched to mark the centenary of women’s suffrage, the youth programme encourages young women and girls to use their voices for positive change – just as their predecessors did 100 years ago. Led by UK Youth in partnership with the British Red Cross and Young Women’s Trust, EmpowHER addresses the worryingly low levels of wellbeing amongst young women and girls in the UK and supports them give back to their local communities through inclusive and meaningful social action opportunities. EmpowHER is a two year programme funded by Spirit of 2012 and the #iwill Fund.” So, as stated by the International Women’s Day, let’s be #EachForEqual.

What is International Women’s day?

International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on the 8th of March every year around the world. It is a focal point in the movement for women’s rights.  In some places, it is a day of protest; in others, it is a day that celebrates womanhood. The day has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911.

The day is not country, group or organization specific – and belongs to all groups collectively everywhere.’

Quote from https://www.internationalwomensday.com/About

Gloria Steinem, world-renowned feminist, journalist and activist once explained “The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organisation but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.”

So, make International Women’s Day your day and do what you can to truly make a positive difference for women.

The EmpowHER project

As the EmpowHER project is at the heart of supporting women in promoting the quality and justice they deserve, International Women’s Day is largely important in celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women on the 8^th of March. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity. The EmpowHER project work with young women to support them in raising awareness of issues around young women, well-being, women’s rights, youth work and social action.

 We want to provide a platform for raising questions and sharing challenges for the sectors of charity work and youth work as they work through and engage with issues in these areas.

‘International Women’s Day is all about unity, celebration, reflection, advocacy and action – whatever that looks like globally at a local level. But one thing is for sure, International Women’s Day has been occurring for well over a century – and continues to grow from strength to strength.’

Quote from https://www.internationalwomensday.com/About

IWD in 2020 and beyond…

The world has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women’s and society’s thoughts about women’s equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation may feel that ‘all the battles have been won for women’ while many feminists from the 1970’s know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy. 

With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women’s visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women’s education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men. 

 However, great improvements have been made. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, schoolgirls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. And so, each year the world inspires women and celebrates their achievements. 

https://www.sthelenslaw.co.uk/international-womens-day-2020/

IWD is an official holiday in many countries including Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, China (for women only), Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar (for women only), Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Nepal (for women only), Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Zambia. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother’s Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

Today we have a guest post written by one of our incredible EmpowHER role models. We hope you find it as inspiring as we did.

Hello EmpowHER family!

I am really excited to be joining you all as a role model, and wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself and share with you who some of my role models are and some of the wise advice they shared with me over the years.

About me:

My name is Chandni (you can call me Chans), I have grown up in London my entire life and my passion for this city outweighs all the scary horrible things I often read about in the news. As a child I was unaware the colour of my skin made me different, mainly because no one in my world ever highlighted this obvious fact in a negative way. I was lucky that I had a variety of women to look up to, talk to, identify with and who cared enough to help me grow. My dream is to become someone who helps others, especially when it comes to helping themselves.

That is what I want to share with you today. There are so many women I could talk about but here are a few who really made a difference in my life.

My mum:

My mother has more patience, unconditional love and heart than anyone I have ever met in my entire life. She raised two confident, caring and independent daughters while also caring for her parents who both had Alzheimers, Dementia and Parkinsons (they were dealt a tough hand) and helped anyone who needed it at any time. She taught me to love unconditionally because it is the greatest gift you can give anyone in this world.

Advice from my mum :

“All my life I have strived to be a good parent and friend, I have made mistakes along the way but my children and my friends know I love them above all else. As you get older you realise how important the people in your life are, so squeeze them a little tighter, tell them how much they mean to you and be there to lift them up. Before you know it, time will fly past and you will wish you had done all of those things a million times more than you did.”

Camille:

I have only been working at the British Red Cross for a few months and in that time I am lucky to have met so many incredible, passionate people but there is one person who has truly stood out for me. Camille was my manager for a short period of time (she moved to another team) but she has had a profound and long-lasting effect on me and how I feel about myself.

I honestly believe you only get one “Camille” in your life at any one time. Someone who instantly sees you for your potential and knows how you see yourself and your flaws intuitively. Starting her career at the British Red Cross in the Training and Quality Team she has been a massively part of engaging people in our work, internally motivating and inspiring her colleagues and setting an example of how your sex and colour should never get in the way of your goals.

If you find someone like this make sure you listen to what they say with open ears and an open mind, people who know themselves this well will have lessons that we can all learn but you must be ready to accept them into your life.

Advice from Camille :

“Just try everything, don’t ever let self-doubt or imposter syndrome make you feel you aren’t worthy of even trying!” and “whilst you are being inspired by others don’t forget that there are probably people in your life that you are inspiring!”

Mindy Kaling:

If you don’t know who this is, what have you been doing with your life?! Mindy Kaling is a comedian, writer, producer, director and the kind of woman you want to be your bestie for ever. She has worked on shows like “The Mindy Project” and “The Office” and she was also the first Asian woman I saw on TV who really stood out for me. It was so refreshing to hear someone talk about how they are slightly geeky, will probably never be a size 8 and unapologetically girly and romantic. In a world that tells you that rom-coms “aren’t feminist” she sums up everything I am with a sprinkle of girl boss attitude. She is funny and insightful and did a hilarious and touching commencement speech at Dartmouth College in 2001 (watch it on Youtube, you won’t regret it).

Advice from Mindy Kaling

“Wouldn’t it be better if we worked together to dismantle a system that makes us feel like there’s limited room for us? Because when women work together they can accomplish anything.”

Thank you for reading this blog post, hopefully some of the advice is useful or at least vaguely interesting. If you take anything from this post, take away the fact that you should watch some of Mindy Kaling’s work – She really is hilarious and will make you feel positive for the rest of the week.

Thanks, Chans

It’s Supporter Week, and British Red Cross staff have being sending love and gratitude to people all over the country who support us in all kinds of ways.

Clarise spent some of her week at the Thankathon with lots of other staff based in London. They called supporters to thank them for all that they do for the British Red Cross – we really wouldn’t be able to do all that we do to help people in crisis without them.

The EmpowHER team want to say a massive “THANK YOU” to everyone who supports us with their time, treasure and talent.

Thank you to all of the Role Models, Youth Workers, Young People, British Red Cross Staff and Volunteers, and our Funders for all of the support that you give us.
Without all of you, we wouldn’t be able to make EmpowHER what it is.

On 22^nd August I had the pleasure of attending the Creative Optimistic Visions (COV) EmpowHER group social action event. The group are looked after children and care leavers who have been working with Stacy from COV through the EmpowHER programme. Their social action idea was to highlight the fact that it’s not easy for some young women to let loose and have a good time if they feel they are not in a comfortable, supportive safe space. These girls wanted to create this space for young women to not only enjoy themselves, but to highlight the need for these spaces too.

This invite only event was advertised to other EmpowHER groups in the West Midlands to also showcase what girls can do when they get together to make change.

Whilst planning the event, the girls had asked if the British Red Cross could help them to approach strong female role models to speak on the night. As part of my work as a youth engagement worker, we have access to a database of over 80 “role models”. These women have offered their time to the girls to teach them new skills, offer advice, workshops, mentoring, shadowing, work experience and much more. From listening to the girls wants for their event I knew we had the perfect role model already eager to be involved – Latifah. Latifah works for refugee services within the British Red Cross. Once I had told her about the girl’s idea and how they wanted her to speak at the event and possibly DJ too, she agreed and we begin the all-important planning. I was able to facilitate conversations between Stacy the girls and Latifah in preparation for the event. Latifah also lead a fantastic Q and A about being the only female in a male dominant field such as DJing. The girls asked challenging and thought-provoking questions around the speed of her progression in the DJing community and if that was effected due to gender. This was among questions linked to safety within DJing too. Latifah was able to speak to others at the event about her role within refugee services also, a topic that is close to Coventry’s heart.

On the night itself, I was filled with pride watching the girls put their new-found confidence into practice by taking centre stage and talking to their audience about their journey through EmpowHER and what it meant to them. It was incredible to hear the thanks they were giving to everyone who was involved and articulating so well their understanding of the double benefit that is embedded into what we do.

During the girls social learning, I was also able to pass onto them some of the examples other groups had done around “The Power of Kindess” this included; postcards of love and support handed out at pride parades, positive messages hidden on postcards around schools for people to find, letters and postcards written to be distributed from the British Red Cross refugee support service for newly arrived families and many more. This concept helped to inspire their social action as their entire ethos behind it was to create spaces for other girls to feel comfortable. The power of kindness behind this awesome event was obvious in the warm and positive atmosphere, and it was obvious that the girls were reaping the double-benefit of their work – they were so proud of what they were doing and their confidence shone through. During the evening, I spotted the girls facilitating conversations between girls that had never met before, lots of encouragement to dance, exchanging of social medias amongst making sure people were eating, drinking and having a good time. Whilst on stage they also identified themselves as the go to people at the event for support and questions throughout the night. The concept of kindness was not only evident throughout the evening, but was embedded within it.

Amongst those who spoke on stage were the WeChangeAdversity EmpowHER girls. They have created a reproductive rights and equality Instagram (@wechangeadversity go follow!) and were there to promote their campaign and also inspire the other attendees. These girls had also had the opportunity to engage with some of our role models – this was via zoom instead as their role models were in Ireland and shared stories about the abortion laws there. These girls also held a launch event for their Instagram which also raised £40 for the British Red Cross. Thank you girls!

The girls’ night was such a huge success for the girls. I’m so proud of everything they’ve achieved! They have become amazing advocates for not only EmpowHER but the Power of Kindness too! There were talks of the girls being commissioned for future events like this in the future due to its huge success too, looking forward to seeing how the continue their journey of social action.

14 year old Azzy has just completed her Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award by supporting the British Red Cross EmpowHER team. We have been so proud of everything Azzy has achieved and how she has grown during her time supporting the programme. This international youth day we wanted to share a blog post Azzy has written for us. Adults in the British Red Cross asked Azzy questions about what it is like to be a teen today, and below you will find her answers. Thank you for everything you have done for us Azzy, you are a star!

Are the Stereotypes of Teenage Life True?

So firstly, not all teenagers are the same. You get some who are restless, weird, crazy, emotional, moody (I can be all of those combined depending on the time of year). Honestly, I think what makes the teenager particularly different from the other age groups is the stress of growing up. In simple terms, it’s the change of growing from a child to an adult. Therefore, if you relax or not stress too much or try not feel pressured in impressing others, you’ll do fine. *MESSAGE TO ADULTS: I know you want what is best for your child but try not put so much weight on our shoulders. Sometimes you forget that we are children who make mistakes. *

What Is the Most Stressful Thing About Being a Teen?

Easy… GCSEs!!! The amount of times I hear “this sheet of paper will determine your future” or “you only have ONE chance to do this right” I MEAN SERIOUSLY!!! Sometimes I wonder how adults can still question how we get worried easily. *MESSAGE TO ADULTS: I know you want us to do our best in our GCSEs and the best way is to ace our End of Year Exams but I mean… Stop. Please stop. We worry for GCSEs 24/7 let alone an exam every single year. *

How Can Adults Give the Best Advice?

This is possibly the most fascinating question. The answer is to give advice that will benefit our future. Try give us advice on stuff teachers don’t teach us (SO NO PYTHAGORUS TRIPLETS AND NO EQUATIONS!!!- we have books for those) instead maybe you could talk about politics (even though politics is horrific right now) or possibly about economy. Yes, perhaps these topics may seem depressing or sorrowful but it 100% benefits the young developing mind for the future. Just try not sound too boring and too harsh as if the world is hell and should end 😊 Try make it sound as if we are the future and the importance of our voice being heard through vote etc.

Are We Happy?

…. I think I am… (0-0) but as I said teens are humans… WE’RE NOT THE SAME

How Do We Maintain and Navigate Our Relationships/ Friendships?

Honestly, I have never been in a major fight with any of my friends before. Some people can find friends easily without them knowing. Others feel as if they need to fight a little to be noticed by people. (both physically or internally fight… or both…) I believe you shouldn’t change or do anything to be noticed but others may differ. So, in summary I am NOT a teen you can ask about teen arguments (I know some girls who can be a bit of an irritant but I can cope I guess…) and all teens are different. They all make friends differently. I for one don’t mind being my weird nerdy self 😊

How Do We Believe the Future Will Be Like?

Ok… I feel like I’ve said this like 5 times but here we go… WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT!!! If you want my honest opinion, think it is turning out as a disaster and all is lost… but I still have hope things can change.

*NOTE: IF YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH MY ANSWERS FEEL FREE TO ASK ANOTHER TEEN. We are all different and it will help you understand how other teens think differently. *

There were ambulances, fire engines, police horses, members of the armed forces and more organisations than I could count filling one of the car parks at the Trafford Centre, Manchester. Amidst the flashing lights, mascots and uniforms were some wonderful EmpowHER girls volunteering a day of their Summer Holidays to help the British Red Cross Emergency Response Team inform people about the work they do to help people in crisis.

The 999 Day is an annual event at which organisations who give assistance during emergencies come together to inform the public about the work they do, how to access support and what individuals and families can do to reduce their risk of being involved in an emergency. Aimed at families, the event was bustling with children who were collecting stickers and freebies, having a look inside emergency response vehicles and meeting staff and volunteers from the services.

Before the big day, the Blackburn based EmpowHER group researched what the British Red Cross Emergency Response Team do and wrote a true-or-false quiz based on their findings. Armed with their questions and oodles of bugs, pens and badges, the girls spoke to the children (and adults) that came to visit the stall and educated them on the role that the British Red Cross plays in all kinds of emergencies.

They also got the chance to speak to other British Red Cross workers about what the Emergency Response team do, got a tour of the Response Vehicle and had some time to go and peruse the rest of the stalls to find out what other services there are that provide assistance during emergencies.

The weather over the preceding few days had caused a lot of flooding locally, meaning that some of the volunteers who had been planning to come and help run the stall were unable to attend. Gale, the Emergency Response Officer for Cheshire & Greater Manchester, who was coordinating the team was incredibly grateful for the support of the EmpowHER girls. She said that without them it would have been incredibly difficult for her and her team to engage with so many members of the public. She, and other volunteers, were incredibly impressed by how willing the girls were to get involved, and how well they interacted with the public.

Thank you for all your help girls – we couldn’t have done it without you.

If you want to see what the Cheshire & Greater Manchester Emergency Response Team are up to, check out their twitter @GMCheshireER