Dusty the Mood Hoover promotes positive thinking among schoolchildren

Dusty the Mood Hoover took centre stage at the inaugural Unbelievable Hugely Great Gala, hosted by Whitehaven Academy, in which six Cumbrian schools gathered for a series of activities encouraging positive thinking.

The event, organised as part of the Brilliant Cumbria initiative which was started in 2021 by The Decommissioning Alliance (TDA) and the Art of Brilliance, aimed to equip children with knowledge and tools to enable them to grow up with resilience and a caring attitude, informing the young people how their language and behaviour can positively impact themselves and those around them.

Dusty, whose mouth opened through a pneumatic device created by engineering firm Forth, offered a place for pupils to share their positive attitude to create a ripple effect and show how their positivity can rub off on others - in this instance Dusty.

Jonny Graham, a Brilliant Cumbria mentor from TDA, said: “About two to three years ago, the TDA was going through a lot of significant changes and team morale was dwindling so we asked Dr Andy Cope through his Art of Brilliance programme to work with us.

“Whereas psychology had always studied people who were mentally unwell, he flipped it on its head and started looking at people that were flourishing and happy and studied what we could learn from them.

“That philosophy really resonated with us and how looking for positives in all we do can boost your mood and that of others around you, so this is why we have decided to adapt Dr Cope’s excellent Brilliant Schools programme and make it Brilliant Cumbria to include the wider community too.

“Currently the school curriculum is primarily focused on academia and the thought process that if children get good grades then they’ll get good jobs and be happy. However, the Brilliant Cumbria programme switches that on its head by saying that children who are positive, happy and resilient will thrive in school and, therefore, good grades will follow.

“We chose to include our own ‘mood hoover’ Dusty as a bit of fun but the meaning behind feeding somebody with your own positive ideas and positive thinking to benefit you and those around you is a very powerful one.”

The Unbelievable Hugely Great Gala was a showpiece event for the Brilliant Cumbria which has been running among six schools in the area: Whitehaven Academy, Dean School, Jericho School, Monkwray School, Valley School and St Begh’s School.

Each school was awarded the Outstandingly Happy School Status by Dr Andy Cope and Will Hussey from the Art of Brilliance, who delivered an inspirational session at the gala.

The programme is set to grow by 200 per cent later in the year with a further 12 schools to enroll.

Alison Young, the programme leader on behalf of TDA - a collaboration between local businesses Jacobs, Atkins and Westinghouse Electric Company - said: “The schools put into practice what they have learned during the programme, and each and every one of them was amazing.

“We must say a big thank you to all our mentors and everyone else involved in this programme. Their passion, enthusiasm and positivity is what makes the programme amazing, and we loved working with them all.

“I’m incredibly proud of the programme and what we have achieved so far. I’m really looking forward to seeing what the future holds for Brilliant Cumbria as we have secured funding for more schools to join so I’m super excited.”

Dusty the Mood Hoover was created by engineers at Forth after Cumbria Waste Solutions donated the wheely bin, and Phil Todhunter, of the TDA, illustrated it.

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The engineering company, which has bases throughout Cumbria, was asked to join in by the TDA due to its positive approach to tackling problems head-on and providing solutions no matter how many attempts it takes.

Graham Cartwright, the company’s projects director, said: “This programme really resonated with me and the wider team at Forth as positive thinking is something we adopt to our working and personal lives each day.

“As a representative of a research and development company, I have never looked at a failed trial as a negative because you are never going to get it right the first time. Rather I view it as a positive and a step closer to finding the solution.

“It was an honour to be invited to get involved in the programme and help create Dusty as it is important to teach people from a young age how having a positive mindset can provide such a benefit to their daily lives and school work.”

During the event, the schoolchildren were addressed by inspirational Marathon-a-Day Man Gary McKee, who has just passed the halfway stage of running a marathon every single day of 2022.

Gary, of Cleator Moor, is classified as a ‘2%er’ within the Art of Brilliance programme as someone who is always positive no matter what - just two per cent of the population is deemed to have such a positive outlook. At the opposite end of the scale is those who are always negative - ‘mood hoovers’.

Gary said: “It was good how the children had all come together and all their good ideas about how to encourage positivity had come to fruition in what was an excellent event.

“I’m a firm advocate of positive thinking and believing in yourself no matter what. To me, obstacles are just stepping stones and you have to move on and keep going and find solutions to your problems whatever it takes.

“My favourite example is that the product would be called WD1 not WD40 if they got things right the first time, but that just shows how you can be successful if you keep persevering.”

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