Mental Health Awareness Week 12th-18th May 2025
Creating mentally healthy communities with stormbreak
The theme of Mental Health Awareness Week 2025 is ‘community’.
To date, stormbreak has supported 64,197 children to do 1,586,921 stormbreaks. A stormbreak is a short 5-15 minute movement based activity with associated mentally healthy conversation, focusing on one key area of emotional wellbeing at a time: resilience, self-care, relationships, self-worth and hope and optimism.
Stormbreak is enhancing connection and community in a number of settings across England and Wales including in primary schools, healthcare settings and with looked after children. We know that children are happier and healthier when they move, and together we work to create communities where children’s emotional health can thrive.
Watch this video about how stormbreak is supporting a primary school through the Surge programme in Devon
How stormbreak enhances mental and emotional wellbeing through communities
Often stormbreak programmes are delivered in groups of schools or organisations, accessing our training resources online. The increased networking opportunities allow people to belong to something, giving their training community and connection. For the children taking part in stormbreaks, their overall wellbeing is enhanced through community too.
- Stormbreak gives children a sense of belonging
Through doing stormbreak together, children are connected without other barriers such as their academic attainment. Stormbreak is movement in its most fun and simple terms, with an emphasis on taking part. Children can feel connected to each other through stormbreak.
- Through stormbreak, children access a different kind of emotional support
We are really passionate at stormbreak that it’s for everyone. Our prevention at scale approach means children do not have to wait for emotional support, through stormbreak they are getting regular, open opportunities to share and feel supported with their emotional wellbeing.
- Children’s self worth is increased through stormbreak
We are regularly told that children who don’t always join in in class, happily take part in stormbreak. Their regular access to movement activities together not only makes them better learners through mentally healthy conversations, it makes them feel good about themselves too. We try to give pupils the opportunity to self-select stormbreaks based on how they want to feel, and this autonomy allows self worth to flourish.
- Stormbreak can give children and trusted adults purpose and meaning
In our work in primary schools, we work with advocates from all areas of the school staff. Creating communities where everyone is heard and advocates for the wellbeing of the children, we empower and support all staff, giving their stormbreak delivery purpose. This is also seen across our other programmes including with foster families.
- There are opportunities for growth through stormbreak
Stormbreak is always evolving as a charity, and the development of further resources including through our Plus membership strand, there is always access to something new for the adults we work with. Children can also develop how they interact with stormbreak through our Champion programme, where older KS2 children can train to deliver stormbreak to younger children in their setting.
- Stormbreak can motivate adults and children
Stormbreak isn’t your standard movement break! We teach children how to take a break from the storm and our feedback tells us that doing stormbreak increases children’s readiness for learning, makes classrooms easier to manage and in foster families can increase placement stability. Both children and adults are more likely to feel motivated when they are in calmer, happier environments.
- Moving with stormbreak reduces stress and increases a sense of connection
Children are happier when they move. Through stormbreaking together, adults and children feel an increased sense of connection. The reduction in stress that comes from taking a break from the storm is felt, and we see regularly that this impacts children in settings where they are given the opportunity to stormbreak three or more times a week.
WATCH A STORMBREAK
WATCH KAI'S STORMBREAK STORY
School engagement coach at stormbreak
Anji is a qualified primary teacher with 14 years of experience in primary education in the North East of England. A qualified running coach and movement expert, Anji works closely with primary school advocates as part of our Surge programme.
Find out more about Surge at www.stormbreak.org.uk/surgeinfo