Features / mental health
Preview: Freedom of Mind 2018
The third instalment of community-driven Freedom of Mind festival, first dreamed up by a member of Bristol City Youth Council looking to open up discussions about mental health to the whole city, returns this month with a more ambitious programme than ever.
Having dabbled with events outside the city centre last year, as well as attempting to attract a wider range of people, this time the 15 events on offer are more collaborative than ever, ambitious in scale, and keep engagement front-and-centre. With twice as many members of staff than last year, the festival offers a well-rounded look at an issue that affects everyone.
Freedom of Mind founder Ella Marshall on stage at the first festival in 2016
The programme begins with a half-day event at Watershed on October 5 in partnership with Women’s Adventure Expo, a social enterprise that champions women in adventure, to explore the relationship between being in a natural environment and building resilience to cope with life’s natural highs and lows. Fitness and wellbeing is one of the key themes of this year’s programme, and other events in this vein include a wellbeing walk in Leigh Woods with dogs and boxing at Empire Fighting Chance gym in Baptist Mills.
is needed now More than ever
As in previous years, the festival runs across World Mental Health Day on October 10. The day will open with an early morning silent disco in Castle Park from 7am to shake off the cobwebs and the blues, and end with a panel discussion about body image and mental health at Zion Cafe in Bedminster Down in collaboration with Bristol’s Festival of Ideas. The panel will discuss what a healthy attitude towards food is, whether modern dieting culture has gone too far and what can be done to promote a positive approach to body image.
The festival has the backing of Bristol’s mayor, Marvin Rees
Other notable events include a discussion about mental health and homelessness at Barton Hill Settlement on 11 October in partnership with The Big Issue, a tea party to tackle loneliness at the Vassals Centre in Fishponds in association with LinkAge Network and Marmalade Trust, and a film screening of I Made This For You at Watershed, a moving exploration of loneliness and suicidal thoughts, both on October 8.
Most events this year are run on a donation basis, and where events are ticketed, highly discounted or free tickets for people facing financial barriers are available. Events are also being put on at fully accessible venues wherever possible. It’s testament to the drive of the young team behind the festival that they have tried as hard as they have to include everyone in the conversation, and it’s great news that the conversation about mental health is gradually becoming easier, in no small part thanks to projects like this.
Freedom of Mind runs from October 5-12 2018. Find details of all the events at www.freedomofmind.org.uk/events
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