Latest MELVA updates...
You can now visit our dedicated MELVA website, which has all the information you need to know about our unique approach to supporting children's mental health and wellbeing.
CLICK HERE to visit MELVA.ORG.UK
CLICK HERE to visit MELVA.ORG.UK
"Brave isn't how you feel, it's what you do"
About MELVA
MELVA is a creative intervention programme for key stage two children, their teachers and families. It was designed in response to the 2017 green paper Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision.
MELVA centres around the story of a nearly-11-year-old girl, Melva Mapletree, whose struggles with anxiety, trauma and bereavement (or ‘worrits’ as she calls them), keep her from doing all exciting new things, and sometimes mean she can't even leave her house.
The aim of the MELVA programme is to use theatre, storytelling and practical activities to:
- Help young people better understand their worries and anxiety
- Provide young people, their teachers and their families with child-friendly, accessible language to talk about and deal with mental health and wellbeing
- Address mental health stigma by encouraging open conversations between young people, their peers, and the adults in their lives about worries and anxieties
The programme started life as a live performance package, and has since been developed into a digital resource - meaning that we can continue to support young people - all over the country - during the challenging circumstances of Covid-19 and beyond.
MELVA is a creative intervention programme for key stage two children, their teachers and families. It was designed in response to the 2017 green paper Transforming children and young people’s mental health provision.
MELVA centres around the story of a nearly-11-year-old girl, Melva Mapletree, whose struggles with anxiety, trauma and bereavement (or ‘worrits’ as she calls them), keep her from doing all exciting new things, and sometimes mean she can't even leave her house.
The aim of the MELVA programme is to use theatre, storytelling and practical activities to:
- Help young people better understand their worries and anxiety
- Provide young people, their teachers and their families with child-friendly, accessible language to talk about and deal with mental health and wellbeing
- Address mental health stigma by encouraging open conversations between young people, their peers, and the adults in their lives about worries and anxieties
The programme started life as a live performance package, and has since been developed into a digital resource - meaning that we can continue to support young people - all over the country - during the challenging circumstances of Covid-19 and beyond.
"Melva is simply the best drama intervention I have ever seen [...] the rewards are instant and long-lasting"
