Wellbeing and Weariness

So... Today was the big one, World Mental Health Day! And it was a long one too.

I was in Williamson Square at 7.30am to meet my colleague, Sarah, and oversee the delivery of marquees, tables and chairs and the set-up of the bandstand for our programme of music.

Representatives of a range of voluntary and statutory organisations began arriving at 10.00 with information and freebies to hand out. We decked them out with t-shirts, wristbands and tally counters and let them loose on the public to talk about sources of help and support for a wide range of issues and conditions. And also to "normalise" the fact that 1 in 4 of us in this country will experience a mental health problem this year - it's nothing to be ashamed of or stigmatised for and it can be lived with or recovered from - just like physical illness.

The free fruit stall arrived, as did the community food workers and I headed over to Central Library to set up another information table and greet the people who were providing free welfare rights and legal advice as well as hourly wellbeing workshops.

At 11.00 I was back at the bandstand to introduce the Lord Mayor, Gary Millar, who gave a great speech and was very supportive of the day and the need for us all to look after each other as a community and tackle stigma wherever it arises.

Next up was the day's musical programme - which was overseen by our fabulous friends at Threshold Festival who did us proud. The bands, choirs and dancers attracted crowds and the MC, local rapper Jamie Broad, put out the message of the day brilliantly and got everyone joining in with a hip-hop workshop.

Act of the day for me were the amazing Snowapple, just arrived from Amsterdam - we were lucky to have them. Great musicianship, astonishing vocals and excellent songs - mostly their own but they also threw in a fantastic Dylan cover which pleased me immensely!

This picture of their guitarist, Laurien Schreuder, encapsulates several things that are good for my own mental health - a song, a smile and sunshine!

The entertainment in the Square finished at 5.00 but continued in the library at 6.00 with a very moving performance by the members of the creative writing group which I talked about last week. Everyone's poetry and prose was jaw-droppingly good and I found myself in tears more than once. The readings were followed by an uplifting performance by the third choir of the day - L8 Sings (for non-locals, L8 is the postcode for the Toxteth area of Liverpool). Thanks are also due to the World Mental Health Day Community Choir (especially formed for the day) and the Raucous Caucus Recovery Chorus who both performed earlier in the day.

After the performance I was exhausted but wired and glad to go for some food with Spokes, Inez and Paul which helped me decompress a little! I've now arrived home, bone-tired but pleased to have weathered the behind the scenes glitches and unforeseen issues and worked with a terrific team of people to put on a great event.

Thanks to everyone who was involved in a really successful day - especially Sarah, the good people at Threshold Festival and Writing on the Wall, Clare Shaw, library staff, the WMHD Steering Group and all our volunteers and performers - you all deserve awards!