For Motorsport UK, the mental health of children and young people participating in motorsport is paramount, and we actively promote positive mental health and want our participants to feel listened to and supported when struggling with their mental health. Motorsport UK recognises that the physical activity of the sport has a positive impact on mental health and well-being.

What is Children’s Mental Health Week?
Children’s Mental Health Week is a mental health awareness week that is launched by children’s mental health charity, Place2Be. The week exists to empower, equip and give a voice to all children and young people in the UK. Shining a spotlight on the importance of children and young people’s mental health and encouraging more people to start talking and to support each other.

This year Place2Be are partnering with Here4You, supported by The Walt Disney Company and Inside Out 2 characters with Children’s Mental Health Week is focussing on Know Yourself, Grow Yourself; to encourage children, young people and adults to embrace self-awareness and explore what it means to them. This will help them grow and develop resilience to cope with what life throws at them.

What is Mental Health?
Everyone has mental health, just like physical health. It is linked to how you think, feel and act. Mental health describes our emotional, psychological, and social wellbeing. Everyone has mental health – it effects how you feel and think, and sometimes how you act and cope with things going on in your life. It is completely normal for us all to feel all sorts of emotions.

Sometimes, you feel well, and sometimes you don’t. When we have good mental health, we feel motivated and able to take on challenges and new experiences. When someone’s mental health isn’t good, they can find it find it much harder to cope – and they might need help from those around them. But when those feelings won’t go away and they start to really affect day-to-day life, that is when there might be a problem. That is when it is good to get advice and support, and to talk to someone you trust.

Advice if you are worried about talking about mental health problems
If you are worried about your mental health or are finding it difficult to talk about how you are feeling, there is lots of support out there.

The first thing you should do is speak to an adult that you trust about it. That might be a parent or family member, a family friend, a teacher at school or even someone you know through motorsport like a team manager or Motorsport UK Club Safeguarding Officer.

If you’re not sure who you would like to talk to, there are also specialist organisations who can support you. You could ring Childline on 0800 1111 who will be able to help you with how you are feeling, or visit www.childline.org.uk.

The Motorsport UK Safeguarding Team are here to support and offer signposting to other support organisations. Our Young Persons leaflet can be found here.

For Parents and Guardians
The wellbeing and safeguarding of your child/children is paramount to Motorsport UK.
Motorsport UK acknowledges that there may be occasions when its young members could be involved with concerning or traumatic events linked to their role in motorsport that could impact their mental health and wellbeing, or there could be factors external to the sport.

Should you have any concern or worry that you would like to discuss with the Safeguarding Team at Motorsport UK, please do contact on 01753765000 or safeguarding@motorsportuk.org
Alternatively, signposting support can be located here