Fife mum backs new campaign offering mental health advice and practical support for parents

Andrea Stark’s comments come in the wake of Mental Health Awareness Week and the Scottish Government launching its parent club ‘Here For You’ campaign.

The initiative aims to provide parents and carers across Scotland with additional support and guidance as they juggle with the pressures of parenting and encourages them to look after themselves during the pandemic.

Parent Club is a digital information resource, support hub and online community offering practical advice and support for parents and carers. From mental health advice, tips for play and learning at home, keeping active and eating well to talking to your kids about coronavirus, advice comes from the trusted voices of other parents and is backed by experts and the Scottish Government.

Andrea told The Press the lockdown has been hardest on her oldest daughter who is 16.

She said: “It has possibly been trickier for my eldest because she isn’t sure if she will be leaving school or not. She has had some symptoms of stress but didn’t recognise it as that. Once we talked about it and she understood what was happening she could recognise the symptoms of stress and feel a bit better about it.”

Andrea said living in a a coastal town has also proved to be very important in helping to boost mental health: “We are very fortunate to live in Burntisland.

“We have access to the coast, to the countryside, the beach and good walking paths we can use and we are quite remote so it hasn’t been very busy with people. We have been making sure we can all get out every day. You can look out to the sea, take a deep breath and then reboot.”

Andrea said her mental health has been up and down during lockdown: “I generally have good mental health but even then I have noticed there have been days when I have definitely felt a lot flatter, but it is just recognising the signs and realising this isn’t a normal situation.

“Myself and my husband have been taking the time to walk together every day, and as a family, as well as slightly longer walks at the weekend, it is important to have that decompression time.”

Speaking about the ‘Here For You’ campaign, Andrea said: “It has really useful free information online from pre-birth right up to the teenage years and beyond.

“There is a lot of good coverage for parents at either end of the scale and there are lots of good pointers for parents online and good links to other information they can use. It is reassuring, so if you do have any concerns or anxieties you can look on there and it will provide additional support.”

Visit: parentclub.scot/coronavirus and/or follow @ParentClubScotland on Facebook and @parentclubscot on Twitter.

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