Words by Cheyanne Bryan
A free online festival to teach children and young people the importance of empathy will take place on 6th June.
EmpathyLab, a UK-based nonprofit on a “mission to raise an empathy-educated generation”, is hosting an online workshop to equip 3 to 16-year-olds with compassionate awareness. With growing concerns for children’s wellbeing and mental health, this event is joined by 47 children’s publishers to push story-driven change
The reading focus was born from research by Book Trust which shared that children who read are more likely to develop empathy and creativity.
EmpathyLab founder, Miranda McKearney OBE says: “Society urgently needs the change that focusing on empathy can bring. It’s our human superpower. Empathy Day gives us all hopeful, practical ways to support young people and develop everyone’s empathy skills and mutual understanding”.
Empathy Day is part of their wider project to help children develop their empathy skills in collaboration with schools, charities and libraries. The aim is that these skills will help build a future that upholds acceptance, warmth and kindness. Thousands of libraries and schools have already committed to the initiative and will host their own workshops for children in the local community.
Don’t worry if you can’t make it on the day, it will be available to watch on demand after the event.
For those that want to attend the festival, check out the website for more information and to see where the event will be livestreamed, here: https://www.empathylab.uk/empathy-day-live
If you are a school or library and you want to take part in EmpathyLab’s mission, sign up here for a toolkit and resources: https://www.surveyhero.com/c/p9w4nbtn
At Smiley Movement, we like to elevate the work of charities across the world. Here are three charities whose causes align with the themes in this article.
Create. This is a leading UK charity empowering lives, reducing isolation and enhancing wellbeing through the creative arts. Learn more here.
TheirWorld. This charity works globally to ensure every child has the best start possible in life. Find out more here.
The Library Campaign. This is a national charity for supporting friends and users of libraries. They also campaign for improved services in publicly funded libraries. Support them here.
This article aligns with the UN SDG Quality Education, Partnerships For The Goals.
