Engagements / Education & young people
A whole-school conversation about resilience, wellbeing and possibility.
A full-day engagement connecting students, high-performance athletes, teachers and parents around the mental and emotional support young people need to thrive.
The engagement
Why Not I delivered a full-day engagement at Lytham St Annes High School focused on mental resilience, student wellbeing and the support surrounding young people in education and competitive sport.
Rather than delivering one message to one audience, the day created connected conversations across the school community. Students were encouraged to think differently about challenge and possibility. Young athletes explored the realities of pressure and setbacks. Teachers considered how they could better recognise and support individual needs. Parents and students were given space to reflect on communication and wellbeing together.
The result was a joined-up day built around a simple principle: young people are more able to move forward when the people and environments around them understand how to support that journey.
The full-day journey
Each conversation responded to a different audience while remaining part of the same environment of support.
Student assembly
Kofi delivered a keynote assembly to more than 500 students, using lived experience to explore mental health, resilience, self-belief and the choices that shape what becomes possible.
The session connected achievement with the realities behind it—showing students that struggle does not remove potential and that asking for support can be part of moving forward.
High-performance athlete workshop
A focused session brought together 24 high-performance student-athletes from football, netball and ice hockey.
The conversation explored setbacks, pressure, identity and the mindset required to pursue ambitious sporting goals while continuing to develop as a person.
Kofi used his international and professional sporting experience to offer an honest perspective on the parts of an athlete’s journey that are not always visible from the outside.
Teacher workshop
The teacher workshop considered how school staff can support student mental health and respond to the individual needs of young people balancing education with demanding sporting ambitions.
Particular attention was given to the role of the PE environment and how communication, trust and appropriate support can help young athletes navigate both opportunity and pressure.
Parent and student discussion
The final conversation brought parents and students into the same space to consider communication, expectations and emotional wellbeing.
The session recognised that support can become difficult when young people and adults experience the same pressure from different perspectives. Honest conversation can help families better understand what a young person is carrying and what meaningful support may look like.
A connected support system
Resilience is often discussed as though it belongs entirely to the individual. Young people are told to be stronger, work harder and keep going—but their ability to navigate challenge is also shaped by the communication, understanding and support around them.
This engagement created space for the wider school community to consider its role in helping young people develop confidence, perspective and healthier ways of responding to pressure.
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Room to recognise possibility and choose a practical next step.
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Honest conversation around expectations, pressure and support.
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Understanding individual needs across education and development.
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Balancing ambition with identity, trust and wellbeing.
Lived experience with relevance
Kofi Josephs brought the perspective of an international basketball player who has experienced achievement, injury, personal loss, pressure and significant mental health challenges while pursuing ambitious goals.
His story allowed conversations about resilience and wellbeing to remain grounded in real experience. It showed that success and struggle can exist at the same time—and that a difficult period does not have to define what becomes possible next.
The purpose was not to present a perfect journey. It was to demonstrate the value of honesty, support, self-belief and taking the next practical step.
Visual event story
From a large assembly to smaller conversations, the day moved between different spaces and groups within the school community.
The value of a whole-school approach
Students, parents and educators can all want the same outcome while understanding the young person’s experience differently.
Bringing those perspectives into one connected day allowed Why Not I to adapt the conversation without losing its central purpose: helping young people feel more able to understand themselves, communicate honestly and continue moving towards what they believe is possible.
Supporting mental health in education is not the responsibility of one assembly, one teacher or one parent. It is strengthened when the wider community is willing to listen, learn and act together.
From inspiration to action
Inspiration can create an important moment, but the aim is for that moment to lead somewhere.
Why Not I encourages young people to recognise possibility, choose a direction, take a practical step and accept the support that can help them continue.
In a school environment, that action may begin with a conversation, asking for help, responding differently to a setback or giving themselves permission to pursue an ambition they had stopped believing was possible.
Working with schools
Why Not I engagements can bring together assemblies, focused student sessions, athlete development, staff learning and wider community conversations.
The format should respond to the needs of the school rather than forcing every audience into the same session. This allows lived experience, mental health, inspiration and aspiration to be made relevant to the people in the room.
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If you represent a school, college, sports programme or organisation supporting young people, tell us what your community needs and explore what we could build together.
