Kent and Medway Children and Young People's Mental Health Service (CAMHS) launch Instagram Winter Blues Challenge

Budding young photographers and artists are being urged to share their work with the online world in a bid to banish the winter blues.

Kent and Medway Children and Young People's Mental Health Service has launched the Winter Blues Challenge to encourage children and teens to depict things that bring them joy despite the bleak winter weather.

From pets to pilates, biking to baking, young people are being asked to send in their photographs or artwork to CAMHS for inclusion in the project.

The project is running until the end of March when the clocks change and longer brighter days return with greater frequency.

Sarah Thornby, Digital Pathway Lead, explained: “To mark Children’s Mental Health Week, our teams in our Kent and Medway Children and Young People’s Mental Health service launched the Winter Blues Challenge. Open until the end of March when the clocks change and longer, brighter days return, the challenge was created in response to the third lockdown, and this period of isolation and home schooling during the winter.

“The Winter Blues Challenge invites all children and young people in Kent and Medway to send photographs and/or artwork to us on Instagram of things that bring them joy, even when it's cold and miserable outside. We’ll then share them on our Instagram Stories to bring joy to others.

“We want to give young people the space to focus on things that bring them joy and happiness, and share them with others – what makes you happy could make others smile too, and we certainly need more of that right now."

Budding creatives can send their work through Instagram in a direct message to @KentandMedwayCAMHS. Those submitting pictures can include their first name and the town they are from if they wish. The service would also like to point out, whilst it can't include pictures of people, it welcomes photographs of people's pets!

Read more about boosting your family's mental health in lockdown here.

For more family-related news from across Kent visit www.mykentfamily.co.uk