An Isle of Man mental health charity has constructed a mural with the help of the island’s primary school children.

Using the theme of ‘Grow Yourself’ as part of Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week, Isle Listen asked 31 of the island’s primary schools to fill in an outline of a watering can with ‘things that help them grow and become a better version of themselves’.

The mural, which has been put in a communal area inside Isle Listen’s Mill Court building in Castletown, features the watering cans surrounding large and sprouting flowers in the form of a metaphor.

Isle Listen’s Holly Ramsay, who regularly visits a number of primary schools as part of her role within the charity, commented: ‘The kids included anything that brings them joy, makes them feel happy and helps them grow.

‘Most people put family, while some went a little bit further and put things like “love”, “friendship” and “food”.

‘There are some really funny ones as well, and what was lovely to see was a lot of kids putting our lessons at the schools on their watering cans too.’

Holly and her colleague Kirsty Arnold visit the schools to provide creative sessions split into four categories throughout the year.

These four categories include: emotional literacy (the initial conversation of what mental health is), self esteem (how they can boost their own confidence), positive relationships (the impact of being kind to others) and coping skills (the things you can do to cheer yourself up).

‘I think a lot of the children took some ideas from these sessions and included them in their watering cans, which is good to see,’ Holly added.

‘We had so many submissions that we decided to put them across the whole room. It took us about three hours, and everyone chipped in to help.’

The mural has been placed inside the communal area to make it more ‘homely’ and ‘comfortable’ for visiting children and their families.

Schools and fundraising lead Steven Downward said: ‘This is a communal space where we host meetings and undertake some forms of training.

‘What makes us quite unique is our space, and we try to make it feel not too clinical. Our therapeutic spaces are all also very tastefully done and have recently been renovated.’

Steven also wished to reiterate that while the mural is an art piece, it has an overarching message and meaning that is important to emphasise.

‘It's a lovely art piece, but there is a quite a hard hitting message behind it that we're trying to equip these young people to deal with life challenges,’ he added.

‘The one to one listening service we provide in secondary schools is growing and growing, so it’s important to try and help that transition from primary to secondary and really get children thinking about what they can do to support and help themselves, as well as knowing what support is available to them.

‘It's lovely that young people see this as fun, but it’s great to see that they’re really engaging with it too.’