Pupils' 200km walk for mental health

Around twenty students will walk a total of 208km (129m) to raise money for an intervention hub

Pupils are walking more than 40 laps of their school field to highlight the need for more mental health support in schools across the country.

St Michael's Church of England High School in Rowley Regis, West Midlands, also aims to raise £12,000 to pilot its own mental health early intervention hub.

About 20 students will walk a total of 208km (129 miles) on Thursday, a distance equivalent to that from the school to parliament, while the rest of the school will complete four laps of the field.

Student Sophie said she could not wait to complete the "unusual" challenge and raise money for the hub.

Kerry Whitehouse, the school's senior mental health lead, said the hub was important to provide students with support because mental health services were being overwhelmed.

An NHS survey published last year showed that one in five children and young people have a probable mental health disorder in England, which she described as "shocking".

"Young people are reaching crisis point before they can get that support," she said.

The school provides various initiatives to help students with their mental health, including the Matrix Project, where boys aged 11 to 14 met to discuss topics surrounding their mental health.

Sophie said the projects helped to normalise talking about mental health and benefitted everyone.

"Now we have a community we can all talk to and we know that we won't get judged for it," Sophie said.