A unique website featuring more than 1000 handwritten stories written by children
Lockdown stories
unheard, untold
The pandemic has affected us all but young people have been particularly hard hit by the impact it has had on both their learning and education.
In a bid to mitigate this, local business Foyle Kumon Centre launched an innovative project last year called, ‘Young Minds Matter’, which involved activities for children to improve their physical, mental and emotional health.
The direct impact of covid-19 on children seems to be less severe than on adults, but indirect and hidden consequences will have a lasting effect on their mental health, compounded by the lack of social engagement, the closing down of sports and social activities and the impact on their learning and education opportunities.
This year the Project opened for schools in September with the “Tell me your Lockdown Story” competition for children aged 7 and above, across the Derry and Strabane area. The aim of this competition was for children to pen down their feelings and emotions they experienced during the lockdown. The response was overwhelming with 8 schools participating and with 682 entries. The competition had 7 categories and was judged by two independent judges. All winners were awarded certificates and vouchers some of which were sponsored by local businesses.
Winners of the lockdown story competition
Sumeeta Gupta, Owner, Foyle Kumon Centre, commented:
“Anecdotally, we know that many children struggled with the demands of home learning and with loneliness after weeks of social isolation. Many peer reviewed and non-peer reviewed studies have reported fluctuating mental health and suicide risk during the pandemic, but few focused on children and young people under the age of 18.As an educator, my focus has always been my students and their well-being. While I first hand witnessed the effect of the pandemic on our children, I felt it was important to highlight their feelings, needs and the problems faced by this cohort during the lockdown”.
‘Every child has a voice that needs heard’.
The overall feedback from Young Minds Matter project has exceeded our expectations. It’s now important that we try and gather as many stories as we can as it will form a major part of history for our future generations.
All these stories will be uploaded on a website which will be launched by the Mayor, Derry and Strabane District Council at the Guildhall on Sunday 13 February. So far, I have a unique collection of more than 1000 handwritten stories by children but I’m sure with more schools participating we will reach the 10,000 mark very soon. This website once launched will be open to people of, all ages and from any part of the globe to upload their story.
It’s the only website in the world with this unique concept and archive.
I strongly urge people to share their story on the website, which we believe, may inspire others to look at many other ways of coping with the situation.”
The Young Minds Matter project is self-funded through the Foyle Kumon Centre. If your school or child are interested in signing up, please contact foyle@kumoncentre.co.uk or call 07886337431.
