Thousands of pounds have been donated to a campaign set up in memory of murdered schoolgirl Brianna Ghey.
The Peace in Mind campaign aims to raise money to send teachers on Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP) training courses, which will provide more support for children of all ages – starting in Brianna's hometown, Warrington, and eventually expanding. Brianna’s mum Esther Ghey previously told the ECHO how mindfulness helped her grieve after her daughter was brutally murdered earlier this year.
Brianna, a 16-year-old, was left for dead in Culcheth’s Linear Park after being stabbed 28 times in a “sustained and violent attack”. The schoolgirl was found by members of the public and two teenagers, Girl X, from Warrington and Boy Y, from Leigh, stood trial at Manchester Crown Court for just over four weeks accused of her murder.
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The murderers, who are also aged 16 and cannot be named for legal reasons, were unanimously convicted by a jury of seven men and five women on Wednesday, December 20. The verdicts were delivered after four hours and 40 minutes of deliberations.
After the verdict was announced, the Peace in Mind fundraiser received a spike in donations – amounting to £3,000. The campaign is now just shy of £15,000 away from its target of £50,000. You can donate to the campaign here.
Esther, a mum-of-two and a new product development technologist, previously explained what mindfulness meant to her. She said: “Brianna struggled with her mental health and had never tried mindfulness. I think that if it was taught in schools and normalised then more older children would be willing to give it a go.
“I have struggled with anxiety myself and find that mindfulness helps massively. It helps to bring you back to the body and the present moment and stops you from overthinking the past or the future.
“It also teaches you any emotions you are feeling are okay. It helps you to sit with these emotions and let them pass by, without latching onto them and letting them snowball into something that is uncontrollable. This is helping me to navigate my grief in a healthy way and to push for positivity in Brianna's name.”
On the campaign page itself, she penned: “I'm extremely grateful for all of the support that our campaign has received. I've met so many really lovely people who want to help improve the mental health of our young people and make the world a better place.
"Everything that we have done so far has been welcomed with positivity. After what has happened to our family, it is helping me massively to see how good people can be.
"The amount of support that we've received since the launch of the Peace in Mind campaign has been amazing. From the start, we have had the backing of the Warrington Wolves and the Warrington Wolves Charitable Foundation. I'm still working closely with them and look forward to all of the exciting events we have planned.
"We have also had support from Warrington's schools. Chris Hunt, headteacher at Culcheth High School, facilitated a donation from the high schools of £7,755, which is just fantastic. Additionally, 21 schools across Warrington have already started the first round of MiSP training and we have many more signed up for the next intake."
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