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Murdered teen's mum calls for mindfulness lessons

BBC Esther Ghey, who has a cream jumper on, blonde hair and tattoos down one arm, standing in front of a bookcase, which has a green banner draped in front of it which says Mindfulness in a Changing WorldBBC
Esther Ghey says she was wants the type of wellbeing education now available in Wales to be spread out across the UK

The mother of a teenager who was murdered says she was inspired by the Welsh education system to call for lessons in mindfulness to be taught to all schoolchildren.

Brianna Ghey's mother Esther told a conference in Bangor, Gwynedd, she relied on the technique, which involves focussing on details of the world around her, to help her with her grief.

Brianna, 16, was murdered in a park in Warrington, Cheshire, in February 2023.

About 100 UK teachers have received training in mindfulness and some schools in Liverpool and Warrington are now teaching it.

The new Welsh curriculum, introduced in 2022, puts health and wellbeing "at the core", but does not explicitly mandate mindfulness lessons in all schools.

Esther Ghey wants it to be part of the curriculum everywhere.

Speaking at a mindfulness conference held at Bangor University on Monday, Ms Ghey said Wales was “already doing such fantastic work”.

“There's been a change in the curriculum and there's such a focus on mental health and wellbeing,” she said.

“That's kind of where I took the inspiration from in the first place. So if we can spread it out across the whole of the UK, the more students that we reach the better."

Family photo Brianna Ghey, with long red hair and glasses, standing with forestry behind her Family photo
Brianna Ghey was murdered in a park in February 2023 by two other 16-year-olds

She said she first began to use mindfulness about nine years ago, as a mature student, to improve her mental health.

"When my daughter was taken from us, my husband and my other daughter would go for walks and it was really helpful to spend that time in nature and to really notice that there was still beauty in the world and it was lovely - sunsets and flowers starting to bloom and blossom.

“It was just the ability to take that time away from what was happening and really live in that present moment."

The Welsh government has been asked to comment on Ms Ghey's campaign for mindfulness to be taught widely.

The International Conference on Mindfulness is jointly hosted by the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University and the Mindfulness Network, and is running until Tuesday.

It brings together leading mindfulness organisations and experts from around the world to discuss the latest innovations in the field.