{"alias":"blogEntry","byline":"","standfirst":"This Children\u2019s Mental Health Week, we\u2019re giving a voice to Hannah, an inspirational Explorer Scout who\u2019s learning to overcome her anxiety.","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Courageous and confident\u2019. This is how Hannah\u2019s Scout Leader describes her. However, it hasn\u2019t always been that easy for Hannah, who often experiences anxiety.\u00A0To everyone else, she may seem fine, but not all mental health problems are visible.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EYet, Hannah\u2019s determination to overcome her challenges and put herself forward hasn\u2019t gone unnoticed. She inspires her peers, especially in her role as a Young Leader with Beavers.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHannah\u2019s willingness to go the extra mile has even been noticed by Chief Scout, Bear Grylls. She was recognised as one of his Unsung Heroes at the \u003Ca href=\u0022https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2023/december/celebrating-the-chief-scout-s-unsung-heroes-2023/\u0022\u003E2023 award ceremony.\u003C/a\u003E\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022NormalTextRun SCXW185231604 BCX8\u0022\u003EWe caught up with this resilient Explorer Scout to find out how she tackles her mental health head on.\u003C/span\u003E\u00A0\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","image":"/media/dmenkw3j/chief-scout-bear-grylls-and-hannah.jpg","width":5863,"height":4045,"altText":"This image shows Chief Scout Bear Grylls standing next to Hannah, a teenage girl with long brown hair, who\u0027s holding up a certificate from Bear Grylls. Hannah wears a purple and orange necker, and a brown shirt with a Scout badge on. They\u0027re both smiling for the camera.","caption":"Hannah with Chief Scout Bear Grylls","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch3\u003EHi Hannah, can you tell us a bit about yourself?\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI\u0027m a 15-year-old Explorer Scout, and I\u2019ve been involved with Scouts since I joined as a Beaver when I was 6. I\u2019m going to be doing my GCSEs this year (which I\u2019m not looking forward to!).\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI hope to study animal management in sixth form. I love animals and I have a particular fascination with snakes and lizards, so I hope to work in a zoo one day. My dream would be to work in Australia Zoo, but I\u0027d have to take my dog, Gem, with me.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch3\u003EHow does your mental health affect your day-to-day life?\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI sometimes find day to day activities challenging, as I get nervous and anxious around people I don\u0027t know, or in large groups of people. A trip to London, being on a tube or even just grocery shopping in the local Sainsbury\u0027s, for example, might bring on a panic attack. Knowing this might happen then makes me worry about going out at all.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs I get older, I\u2019ve learned strategies to try and distract myself from these feelings. I use techniques like controlled breathing, or I identify a number of sounds, things I can see, or parts of my body to list, which makes me focus on something else and helps me cope in these situations until they pass.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI have great support from teachers, chaplains, the mental health support team at school (who\u2019ve taught me these coping strategies), my family at home and the volunteers at Scouts, which really helps.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch3\u003EHow has Scouts supported you and helped you learn resilience?\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHaving been involved with Scouts for so long, even its familiarity gives me confidence. It offers me a place to be myself, where I can step up to help and feel like I\u0027m useful.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI love taking part in activities I don\u0027t normally get to do, and it\u0027s easier to challenge myself with new things when I know support is there for me from my volunteers and friends if I need it.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"","gtmClass":"","image":"/media/ncsld1dg/hannah.jpg","width":1200,"height":1600,"altText":"This image shows Hannah, a teenage girl with long brown hair who\u0027s smiling at the camera. She\u0027s taking the selfie in a room with tiled walls. She wears a long sleeved black jumper.","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch3\u003ESo inspiring to hear you\u2019re a Young Leader and have even stepped up to run meetings with your Beavers. What kind of things do you get up to as a Young Leader?\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBecoming a Young Leader with Beavers was brilliant. I love helping out with the little kids and teaching them new and fun things is wonderful to watch and be part of. Our Beaver Leader, Tors, has been a fantastic mentor to me, and the whole team are really supportive.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI try to think of new activities that the Beavers will enjoy, but actually, the old faithful games are still going strong!\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch3\u003ECongratulations on your award, how does it feel to be an Unsung Hero?\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EHonestly, unbelievable! Receiving this award has been a huge boost for my confidence. I didn\u2019t know that Tony, our leader, had put me forward, so it was a big surprise.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s made me realise how I truly have become more confident, and kept going when things were tough, which I probably wouldn\u0027t have recognised on my own. It\u2019s\u00A0shown me that I can achieve things I never thought I could. Also, meeting Bear Grylls was pretty amazing!\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Ch3\u003EFinally, what\u2019s been the highlight of your time at Scouts so far?\u003C/h3\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EI really loved it when my Explorer Unit went paddleboarding on a local lake, as it was the first time I\u2019d plucked up the courage to talk to new people, and made me realise it\u0027s not as scary as I thought. It was also a beautiful evening, which made it even more memorable.\u003C/p\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"type":"Promo","cta":"","body":"\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s been great chatting to you Hannah. It\u2019s lovely to hear how you\u2019re tackling your anxiety with such resilience, thank you for sharing with us. Your story is so inspiring, and we\u2019re really glad that receiving an Unsung Hero award has boosted your confidence even more.\u003C/p\u003E","link":null,"colour":"#002f6c","title":"","image":null,"imageFocus":"","imageId":0,"imageKey":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","imageCrop":"","gridType":"card","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""},{"type":"Promo","cta":"","body":"\u003Cp\u003EIt\u2019s Children\u2019s Mental Health Week, so to help support the mental health of young people around you, check out \u003Ca rel=\u0022noopener\u0022 href=\u0022https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/about/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022 title=\u0022Children\u0027s Mental Health Week\u0022\u003EPlace2Be\u2019s Children\u2019s Mental Health Week toolkit\u003C/a\u003E. Please remember, everybody\u2019s different. While Hannah\u2019s coping techniques for anxiety may work for her, they might not be quite right for someone else. You can also look at our own \u003Ca href=\u0022https://www.scouts.org.uk/volunteers/staying-safe-and-safeguarding/supporting-life-issues-and-young-people/supporting-our-members/mental-health/\u0022\u003Esupport and guidance on mental health\u003C/a\u003E for more advice.\u003C/p\u003E","link":null,"colour":"#f1f1f1","title":"","image":null,"imageFocus":"","imageId":0,"imageKey":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000","imageCrop":"","gridType":"card","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"05 February 2024","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[{"caption":"","title":"Find out how to get involved with Children\u0027s Mental Health Week","url":"https://www.childrensmentalhealthweek.org.uk/","newWindow":false}],"relatedLinks":[],"id":78541,"nodeName":"How Scouts helped me tackle anxiety and learn resilience","title":"How Scouts helped me tackle anxiety and learn resilience","type":"blogEntry","image":{"url":"/media/dmenkw3j/chief-scout-bear-grylls-and-hannah.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1da4ebf05e477f0","caption":"Chief Scout Bear Grylls and Hannah","type":"jpg","size":3929613,"width":5863,"height":4045,"altText":""},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"How Scouts helped me tackle anxiety and learn resilience","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"Hannah, an inspirational Explorer Scout, shares how she\u0027s learning to overcome her anxiety.","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC83ODU0MSJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2024/february/how-scouts-helped-me-tackle-anxiety-and-learn-resilience/"}