On Monday 30th April, Fegans held their first Mental Health Conference: Our Children, Our Future at the Tunbridge Wells Town Hall, and are pleased to announce it was an incredible success. Professionals from across the South East, including teachers, SENCOs (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators) and mental health professionals joined in a day of informative and inspiring talks, professional networking and idea sharing.

Fegans’ CEO Ian Soars opened the day with an introduction to Fegans Charity and to the ‘Our Children, Our Future’ Mental Health Conference. Ian’s talk gave a clear call to collaborate as individuals and as a community.

The first guest talk of the day was presented by Ian Bauckham CBE, who gave the audience insight into the government’s current position and future plans on a number of subjects within education, such as relationship education, sex education and PSHE. Brid Johnson from NELFT gave an introduction to the new Children’s and Young People’s Mental Health Service. Nina Marshall and Dr Annie Cardinal gave a talk on eating disorders, and offered support and information around the subject.

After lunch delegates enjoyed a talk from Dr Pooky Knightsmith, prolific keynote speaker, lecturer, trainer and author, who shared  research and knowledge of the world of self harm. Next was Jo Tonkin a Public Health Specialist from Kent County Council who discussed mental health trends across Kent. The last speaker of the day was from Sarah Francillia who presented a case study on Fegans’ work with a cluster of schools in East Grinstead.

Fegans are dedicated to creating positive change in children’s mental health services. We support children, parents and schools, so that the children of our future are better equipped to deal with issues and challenges they may face, and have the building blocks for a happy and successful life. The Mental Health Conference was a wonderful opportunity to meet and share ideas on how we as a greater mental health community can help make this change together. Fegans’ will be sharing key learnings and information in future posts on this site. At a local level Fegans are proud to be working with Tunbridge Wells Together on their new Be;Me initiative, bringing mental health bodies from across Tunbridge Wells to work towards a healthier wellbeing for all.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the speakers, delegates and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council for standing with us in our quest to create a powerful community of professionals across the South East to instigate and support change.