PUPILS from schools in and around Whitchurch are set to benefit from a new programme to boost mental health and wellbeing.

The new initiative is known as REST EASY and is based on a simple methodology using the phrase as a memorable acronym.

REST EASY stands for Recognise Emotions, Stop Think, Engage Awareness and Support Yourself.

It is the brainchild of Emily Gearing B.A (Hons) who is a life coach and wellbeing educator as well as being a broadcaster for Red Shift Radio.

Emily suffered with social anxiety for nearly 30 years and tried a number of therapies to treat it.

While many of them worked for short periods she found they offered no long-term solution. She therefore decided to create a method that would offer quick, long-lasting results for preventing mental illness.

She attended the mental health debate at the House of Commons in March of last year where they were asking for smart and innovative approaches to prevent mental illness in schools.

Having trained as a life coach and mindfulness practitioner two years prior she began perfecting the REST EASY method and put it forward as a proposal for schools.

The method is being supported by the NHS Innovations Agency and Parliament Street Think Tank.

The scheme teaches emotional intelligence, resilience, empathy and self-awareness and serves as a simple framework that combines the principles of dialectical behaviour therapy, mindfulness, positive psychology and life coaching.

Emily has now trained three REST EASY coaches in the method and they are delivering it to staff in schools across Cheshire and Shropshire, including Marches Academy Trust school, Tilstock CE Primary School and Lower Heath CE Primary School, as part of a trailblazing two year pilot.

"The aim of REST EASY is to prevent mental illness in six to 25 year olds and educate their parents and carers on how to support them," said Emily.

"It is being implemented as a whole-school approach to wellbeing and it is proving extremely popular with staff and pupils."