A mum and former teacher is hosting her fifth fundraising event to help improve schoolchildren’s mental health

Mother-of-two and former primary school teacher, Claire Tamplin, is hosting her fifth Mindful Movement Well-being Workshop at The Village Hotel, in Cosham, on February 9, at 7pm.

The cost of each ticket to the event will fund mental health and well-being sessions at local schools which, on this occasion, will be provided at Purbrook Park School – which Claire herself attended.

The event, held every month since September, is a ‘sensory experience’ for attendees, with fresh flowers provided by Havant-based company Claire’s Floristry, live music, as well as movement and breathwork activities guided by the former teacher.

After leaving her job teaching English at a primary school, organiser of the initiative and founder of the Mindful Movement Coach, Claire, decided she wanted to begin introducing the mental health tools she had gained, into schools.

‘It doesn't matter how great of an English teacher I am, if I'm teaching to broken children, nothing is going to go in,’ said Claire.

‘Understanding their emotional literacy should be on the curriculum, it’s an absolute no-brainer. Post-Covid I really think there’s an even greater need for it, and not just for children but for adults too.’

SEE ALSO: Apprentice Bus tour of city secondary schools inspires hundreds

Claire, who also hosts the monthly radio segment ‘Cultivating Courageous Conversations with Claire’ on ExpressFM, really believes that it ‘takes a village to raise a child,’ and is hoping to target children’s mental health at a young age before it becomes damaging.

‘I work with lots of young children who are very sadly self harming or have developed eating disorders. Why is it that we only put in the intervention then? Why can't we teach it from a young age,’ she asked.

‘If you’ve already got those tools built in, you’re less likely to get to that stage.’

Last year, Claire was invited to parliament twice to discuss the topic in the House of Commons, pushing the need for a ‘shake-up’ in the way schools in country deal with well-being within education.

‘I'm a proud local girl, it’s beautiful to be able to give back to where it all started. If it wasn’t for my teachers investing in me, I don’t think I’d be where I am now.’