Marks & Spencer and its charity partner YoungMinds are inviting schools across Northern Ireland to get involved in this year’s Hello Yellow campaign and help young people talk about mental health. Schools that sign up will be entered into a prize draw for the chance to win a planter with built-in seating, creating a dedicated space for pupils to connect and spend time together.
Taking place on Friday 9 October, Hello Yellow is YoungMinds’ annual fundraising and awareness campaign supporting young people’s mental health. Held around World Mental Health Day, the campaign encourages people to wear yellow and use the opportunity to start conversations about mental health.
Schools that register to take part in Hello Yellow can choose to enter a prize draw for the chance to win one of 120 seated planters for their school, donated by M&S, to create a space for young people to connect and talking about mental health in their school playgrounds.
Free supportive educational resources from YoungMinds will also be available to all registered schools including flower-themed resources for Key Stage 1 pupils, a worksheet and a lesson plan for teachers. These resources offer practical, age-appropriate ways for schools to bring conversations about mental health and wellbeing into the classroom.
YoungMinds
The campaign forms part of M&S’ ongoing partnership with YoungMinds, which brings together colleagues, customers and communities to support young people’s mental health. Since the partnership began in October 2023, M&S and its customers have raised £7.5 million for YoungMinds, exceeding the original £5 million fundraising target and helping to provide more than nine million instances of support for young people and their families through YoungMinds expert information and advice services.
Eddie Murphy, Country Director for M&S in Ireland and Northern Ireland said: “Hello Yellow is an important opportunity to encourage young people to open up about how they’re feeling and shine a light on the important work our charity partner, YoungMinds, does to support young people’s mental health.
We’re delighted to be encouraging schools across Northern Ireland to get involved. It’s a great opportunity to get young people talking about mental health and wellbeing, while creating spaces where those conversations can continue beyond Hello Yellow. We hope the chance to win one of 120 playground planters will give schools an extra reason to take part, while the YoungMinds resources provide practical ways to bring those conversations into the classroom.”
Abigail Ampofo, Interim Chief Executive at YoungMinds, said: “YoungMinds’ Hello Yellow campaign is all about making sure no young person feels alone with their mental health. Young people are experiencing many pressures which harm their mental health so having a place to connect and have conversations with their friends can be really important for supporting their wellbeing. We’re delighted to partner with M&S and give schools the chance of winning a seated planter to help make sure conversations started during Hello Yellow continue.”
Hello Yellow takes place on Friday 9 October, with schools across Northern Ireland invited to register to take part and enter the prize draw by midnight on Thursday 8 October.
Schools can register and enter the draw by visiting: www.fundraise.youngminds.org.uk/register/hello-yellow/schools
