Statement

The attention of the world is rightly focused on measures to mitigate the transmission and economic effect of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. In this rapidly changing situation, media and social conversations are entirely dominated by the outbreak, and children are exposed to large amounts of information and high levels of stress and anxiety in the adults around them. Simultaneously, children are experiencing substantial changes to their daily routine and social infrastructure, which ordinarily foster resilience to challenging events

Providing information and prioritising communication with children about COVID-19 is an essential component of any universal, community-led response to the pandemic. Health-care workers are experiencing unprecedented demands caring for a predominantly adult patient population, magnifying the invisibility of children’s urgent psychological needs. However, ignoring the immediate and long-term psychological effects of this global situation would be unconscionable, especially for children and young people, who account for 42% of our world’s population

I would like to help mitigate the inevitable potential long-term effects that COVID-19 may have on our children, by offering free online yoga, meditation and mindfulness (using ZOOM) to the children of Frontline Workers initially, with a view to inviting the remainder of the children and young people in our communities upon successful uptake and evaluation within local Hub Schools.

I am a fully licenced Yoga and Pranayama Practitioner working in the Neath Port Talbot and Swansea localities, with c25+ years of yoga practice.  I teach 6+ domestic classes per week, predominantly from Bronleigh House Wellness Centre in Neath, but also Corporate Yoga at various locations in the Neath and surrounding areas.

Pre COVID-19, I delivered Yoga within Schools all over Wales, ranging from age 2-16years.

References can be prepared if this is a requirement, and I am fully compliant with all appropriate legislation, having adequate insurances, training certification and Disclosure Checks in place.

I have worked with children for many years through various schemes including Wales Young Business Dragons as a mentor and judge, providing support and delivering business workshops with schools in relation to matters of health, safety and the environment as a Health and Safety Practitioner and Chartered Waste(s) Manager, and more recently, hosting assemblies discussing the importance of Bees and Pollination, as a registered Apiarist representing Bee1.  I work in conjunction with local businesses to raise funds to sponsor the delivery of education to schools in Wales, at no cost to the schools themselves.

I also work with Public Health Wales, Keep Wales Tidy and Natural Resources Wales on various schemes.

Very enlightening narrative here on the effects that COVID-19 is likely to have on the mental health of children and young people.