Ipswich Town star Kayden Jackson is to visit Whitehouse Primary School in Ipswich as part of a bid to encourage children as young as five to look after their mental health.

The 25-year-old striker will read youngsters a story designed to maintain their mental wellbeing as part of activities for Children's Mental Health Week, which is running this week.

The charity Suffolk Mind has organised the Blues star's visit on Wednesday, February 5 as part of its EARLY Minds programme to encourage more conversations around mental health.

According to major research conducted by Mind, three in five people aged between 11 and 19 have either experienced a mental health problem themselves or are close to someone who has.

Many mental health problems are also believed to have been established by the age of 14.

Jon Neal, chief executive of Suffolk Mind, said: "EARLY Minds is part of an approach which is different to others in that it teaches all of us how to prevent mental ill health, moving beyond teaching them to spot the signs of people already unwell.

"We want to achieve wholesale cultural change, creating environments at school, at home and in the workplace that enable people to get their emotional needs met and prevent mental ill health.

"Whitehouse Primary is one school in Suffolk that has received the training which educates and inspires children by increasing their understanding of emotional wellbeing.

"We're excited that children there will hear about mental health from a popular figure in Suffolk."

Dan Palfrey, from Ipswich Town Football Club, said: "The club have been supporting Suffolk Mind for two seasons now and their EARLY Minds initiative is fantastic.

"It's so important in particular with mental health to be proactive and this is exactly what EARLY Minds sets out to achieve.

"If we can use our profile to raise awareness then it is only a positive."

Suffolk Mind officially launched the EARLY Minds programme in October 2019. For more details, visit the Suffolk Mind website.