Crowdfunding campaign to Raise Self-esteem, Self-confidence and Happiness levels in Children and Young People

Bristol Social Entrepreneur & Happiness Coach Jo Richings has just launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise £5000 to create ‘HappiMe’, a free, non profit app that uses simple CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), NLP (neuro linguistic programming) & Mindfulness techniques in a fun and engaging way to introduce children to the power of happy thoughts and thinking positively through The Chimp and the HappiTars

Jo passionately believes that children need a new set of tools to help them build emotional resilience. “The number of children being diagnosed with mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and self-harming is at an all-time high at over 850,000 and that’s only the ones we know about. The education system is unable to provide these tools as their focus is firmly on academic growth targets rather than pastoral care. Amazing teachers are leaving education in droves due to stress. It’s up to us to do something about it”
Jo needs your help to make this happen. If you are interested in supporting the project to raise the £5000 needed for developers fees, please pledge your support at www.gofundme.com/happime

In 2012 Jo was diagnosed with breast cancer, lost her lovely mum halfway through her treatment and then found out her husband was having an affair. All within a year! To say that that lot gave Jo a slightly different perspective on life would be the understatement of the century.

She decided to down-size her Business & Executive coaching business and start doing the thing that makes her heart sing…empowering children and adults to be the best they can be! After losing nearly 7 stone and getting fit Jo began to create tools and programmes that would really make a difference to people’s lives. So far she has created a motivation & empowerment app for adults called Yes, I Can Do it and self-confidence programmes for children that her daughter Abby is currently running in schools in Bristol. Her next ‘make a difference project’ is HappiMe, a free, non-profit app that will help raise self-esteem, self-confidence and happiness levels in our children by teaching them about the power of thinking positively.

Chimp is mischievous, emotional and in charge of worrying. He or she is the little voice that tells children they messed up, they are rubbish and not good enough. He worries about things he shouldn’t worry about. He is the emotional part of the brain that kicks off when things don’t go as planned, the one who throws toys out of the cart, sulks, gets angry and sad.

And then we have the HappiTars. They are your Happiness Avatars. They are the sensible ones in charge of happiness! It’s their voice that calm you down and tell you not to worry, letting you know how great you are. They are there to cheer you on! HappiMe teaches children that they have control over which voice they listen to and that a thought is just a thought, with power only when we focus on it and add emotion.

Both young and older children love Chimp & the HappiTars. They ‘get it’ instantly and quickly learn to recognise when their Chimp is running the show. Parents of younger children have reported that the app is a great tool to use on a day to day basis with children who worry a lot. Simply labelling their worry a ‘Chimp thought’ and bringing in a ‘HappiTar thought’ can be enough to calm their anxieties.

Previous articles
bristolpost.co.uk/jo-turns-life-aims-help/story-23013112-detail/story.html
mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/losing-weight-helped-find-lump-4465443
bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04hhny8 radio interview (@2 hours 9 minutes)

Jo Richings
jo@jorichings.co.uk
www.happi-me.org
www.jorichings.com
Tel 07813 963 523

28 Little Headley CLose
Headley Park
Bristol, BS13 7PJ

This release was published on openPR.