Teenage drag queen urges young people to 'express themselves' in competition launched by mental health charity in Milton Keynes

YiS, the city's young people's mental health charity, is giving a prize of £50 plus a YiS limited edition tote bag to the winner of 'Express Yourself'.

A YiS spokesman said: "Maybe you express yourself through your appearance with your amazing makeup or fashion skills. Maybe you prefer to express yourself through physical activities such as sports, dancing, baking, etc. Maybe you have an artistic flare and express yourself through drawings, paintings, collages, photographs, comics, etc.

"However you express yourself we want to see. All you need to do to enter is to send a picture of how you express yourself, along with your name and contact information, to [email protected] by midday on Friday February 5th".

YiS , which offers free counselling to young people in MK, is joining Place2be’s Children’s Mental Health Week between February 1 and February 7 this year..

People can post pictures on any social media platform but be sure to take YiS and use #YisExpressYourself #CMHW21."

The ambassador for the competition is Dylan Earley, a 17-year-old make up artist and drag queen from Milton Keynes.

He said: "I started doing make up when I was about 13and since then I've never looked back. It's the way I express myself creatively and it gives me purpose for what I want to do.

As a boy in make up I've been given a lot of backlash over the years but my advice? Screw it. Do what you want to do and what makes you happy. Don't listen to others' small-minded opinions. And if you carry on practising at what you love then you will be unstoppable!"

Yis say a recent survey showed 80 per cent of young people said that the pandemic had negatively impacted their mental health.

"It is at this time we need to shine a spotlight on the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people," said the spokesman.

The Express Yourself is one of a range of activities YiS has organised a variety of activities for the mental health week. Follow the charity on @yismentalhealth for more details and exclusive updates.

Voting for Express Yourself closes at midnight on February 28 with the winner being announced live on Tuesday March 2.

The four runner-ups will also receive a free limited edition YiS tote bag as well as some other goodies. All entries into the competition agree to their picture being posted across YiS Young People’s Mental Health social media platforms.