Royal Mail join campaign to encourage writing

Named Can’t Talk, Write, the kit includes tips, advice and exercises to help people to improve their mental and emotional wellbeing and is available to download at: http://www.actionforchildren.org.uk/cant-talk-write

David Gold, Director of Public Affairs & Policy at Royal Mail said: 

"As the research suggests, writing is an important tool for preserving and improving mental health and this is especially important during such times of uncertainty. Writing down thoughts and feelings helps children and young people to digest emotions and feel better about difficult situations. We are very pleased to have worked with Action for Children and The Prince’s Trust to create a toolkit to help younger people to strengthen their mental and emotional wellbeing.

“Royal Mail understands the important role we play in helping people to stay connected, especially during this challenging period for the UK.”

New research by leading UK charities Action for Children and The Prince’s Trust – in partnership with Royal Mail – shows that despite today’s overload of social media and digital platforms, over a third of children and young people aged 11 to 21 years, explore their thoughts and feelings by putting pen to paper or engage in creative writing to help manage and support their mental health.

Over a quarter (27%) of children and young people write down their feelings on paper once a week or more. They said that writing down their thoughts and feelings on paper, rather than typing on a phone or laptop was the most effective way to ‘process’ how they are feeling.

Almost a third (31%) who wrote for therapeutic benefits said it helped them deal with difficult family situations and issues. Other ways in which children and young people said writing down their feelings helped, included: finding the solution to a problem, stopping them from saying something they didn’t mean; and helping them feel better about going to school or work.