Design a trophy for this year's wellbeing awards and you could be a baton bearer at the Baton of Hope UK tour
28 March 2025
Pupils are invited to draw or paint a design that will be turned into a trophy for the winners of the Kent Mental Wellbeing Awards 2025.
The Kent Mental Wellbeing Awards 2025 is now accepting nominations from schools - and this year the judges want your students to help design the trophy that will be presented. The winner of this year's design competition will be able to visit the production company - Cactus Graphics - to watch as the trophies come off the production line. They will be cut from sheets of sustainable bamboo. A photo of the winning student and their trophy will be sent to the local media to celebrate their design achievement and the photo will be displayed on a giant screen at the awards celebration this autumn. So quite the honour potentially for one of your students.
But to add to the excitement the winner of the design competition will also be invited to be a baton bearer of this year's UK Baton of Hope tour when the beautifully engraved item travels the length of the UK visiting 40 towns and cities - including a number in Kent - to encourage positive conversations around mental health.
The Kent Mental Wellbeing Awards celebrate people, organisations and initiatives that help support wellbeing in schools, charities, business and the community. Nominations are linked to kindness and compassion, wellbeing, or mental health.
Entries for the art and design compeition should be on A4 and have the young person's name, age, class and school name on the front but not touching the design. Email scans or photographs of the illustrations can be emailed to simondolby@eastkentmind.org.uk but look after the original illustrations as the printer will need it later on if it is selected as the winner. The deadline to send student designs over is 1June.
Simon Dolby from the judging panel said: "What images do wellbeing and kindness and compassion bring to mind for your students? We want them to turn that vision into a design for our winners' trophy. This can be a class-based activity - perhaps to fit in with a topic such as bullying or kindness - or alternatively set as a homework task."
Please email or call Simon to let him know if you will be undertaking this design activity with your class or setting it as a homework task so he can track interest - he can send you photos of previous winners to give you a better feel of what your student's end product will be turned into. If you have any questions contact him. Your school or setting is also invited to submit nominations for the awards by visiting www.kentmentalwellbeingawards.org.uk
Key points:
- Artwork size: A4
- Contact details: Write pupil name, age, class, school name on the front, but ensure this does not touch the child's design.
- Deadline: 17 June
- Send a photo or scan of each piece of artwork to: simondolby@eastkentmind.org.uk
- Want to post artwork instead?: Contact Simon to arrange.
- Visit www.kentmentalwellbeingawards.org.uk to find out more.
Now is the time to nominate your school for a wellbeing award.
This year's Kent Mental Wellbeing Awards includes the themes of kindness and compassion, wellbeing and mental health - so schools should consider submitting nominations focusing on anti bullying initiatives; buddying schemes and inclusiveness - as well as those more directly supporting pupil or staff mental wellbeing.
The awards celebrate the people, initiatives and organisations making a positive contribution towards the wellbeing of the school community.
Staged by the mental health charity East Kent Mind and supported by a range of organisations including Kent County Council, the event will highlight the good ideas used daily in the county's schools to assist with wellbeing in its broadest sense.
Of particular interest to the judges this year are examples of schools involved in:
- Nature areas or outdoor classroom experiences that assist pupils with learning in the natural environment.
- Nature areas that allow students to relax, reflect and de-stress.
- Outdoor gardens and allotments giving pupils hands-on experience of growing plants.
- Forest schools
- Sensory gardens
- Buddying initiatives
- Kindness campaigns
- Anti-bullying campaigns aimed at promoting inclusiveness
- Family wellbeing workshops
- Pastoral care support
- Wellbeing hubs or teams focused on wellbeing and mental health
- Acts of kindness on campus or in the community.
Schools should also consider detailing how the staff or volunteers have helped projects to succeed as the judges also like to make awards to people making a difference with wellbeing - not just the initiatives themselves.
Submitting a nomination is easy, simply visit www.kentmentalwellbeingawards.org.uk.
Simon Dolby with the beautifully engraved Baton of Hope: