Our charity partner Anna Freud featured D-CYPHR Young Ambassadors in their blog focusing on the power and importance of community for Mental Health Awareness Week. The ambassadors were encouraged to speak about what community means to them and how it nurtures their mental health and wellbeing.
Community is a core part of D-CYPHR and we are thankful to have almost 10,000 health heroes to have joined us so far to support children’s health research and help make a difference to the future lives of children.
One young D-CYPHR Ambassador explained what community means to them:
"A group of people brought together through something which they share in common. It can be found with either the people who live around us in a geographic location or with people we connect with through similar values and interests. You might find your community at school or work, through your faith, at a club where you enjoy a hobby, as part of a group inspiring action for positive change, an online game, or even through a love of Taylor Swift.
"Community is a place where we can express ourselves and receive encouragement which helps in our daily mental health. Importantly, a community should make you feel good about yourself, feel safe, and feel empathy towards others. A community is there to help you through the hard times…Throughout Covid we saw so many examples of communities coming together to support one another, find joy, and ensure that those most in need were looked after."
Mental health conditions are one of the key research areas for the DNA, Children + Young People’s Health Resource (D-CYPHR), alongside diabetes, heart disease, rare diseases, immune conditions and many more. Around 42% of 13-15 year olds that joined the programme reported a mental health condition and 2 out of 3 active D-CYPHR studies that include D-CYPHR participants, have a mental health focus. And from the words of seven-year-old D-CYPHR Ambassador, Khadija: "Community is kindness and love.”
Become a D-CYPHR Ambassador
The Ambassador programme is a voluntary public engagement group run in partnership with our charity partners Anna Freud. Our Young and Parent Ambassadors are invited to join events, go behind the scenes, and help us shape our programme. They also get training and experience with our health research campaign. Ambassadors are the voice of D-CYPHR and help us raise awareness across the UK.
D-CYPHR is part of the NIHR BioResource and is made for families with children and young people aged 0-15 in the UK. We need volunteers with and without health conditions to better understand childhood health. It’s as simple as filling in a health and lifestyle questionnaire and spitting into a tube.
You can play your part in health research today. Take a look at our website for more information.