Vibe youth group create and hide 100 mental health ‘Pick Me Up’ packs for local people to find

Halton Youth Cabinet have created and hidden 100 ‘Pick Me Up’ mental health packs for young people to find in their community this week.

The group, run by Liverpool charity Vibe and funded by Halton Borough Council, is made up of passionate youngsters aged 11-18 working towards positive change in the area and mental health is the group’s campaign focus for 2022.

The packs contain positive art and messages designed by young people in Halton and items to help boost and aid people’s mental health including a stress ball, fidget toy, journal and stickers.

Hidden in hotspots around the borough, the locations have been identified by community members and include parks, libraries, town centres and other points of interest.

Vibe have urged young people in the area to take part in the hunt and Project Lead Helen McGorrin said: “Our young people have created amazing ‘Pick Me Up’ packs for local people and have hidden all 100 of them around the borough for the community to find in a bid to aid mental health in the area.”

Paige, who is 14 and a youth councillor for Halton Youth Cabinet, said: “We’ve been really excited to be able to give something back to our community and we really hope people will get involved in the hunt and share their images with us through our social media.”

With many young people struggling during lockdown, the August ‘Pick Me Up’ initiative comes after Vibe won £4,000 from the Five Ways to Wellbeing.

At the start of the year, the ‘Better Letter’ campaign was launched and, in a bid to tackle isolation, a Pen Pal scheme was developed for young people in Halton to sign up to.

In total, 42 young people were matched and provided with all the resources to send four letters to each other to lay the foundations of friendship with someone new.

Halton Youth Cabinet also hosted a wellbeing event that allowed young people to try new things such as a sound bath, yoga, poetry while expressing themselves through painting and other mindfulness crafts.