News Manifest 2009
16/07/2009
Hull's first youth well-being festival
Listen to a Radio Humberside interview with event co-ordinator Kate Macdonald
Audio (Duration 10min 16sec)
Watch the event film here
Video (Duration 3min 33sec)
Photocall: Photographers are invited to attend a photocall on Friday, 10th July, at the Holiday Inn on Ferensway, where young people will be abseiling to launch Manifest 2009. Interviews will also be available with the young people taking part.
Make a noise about mental health and try something new.
That's the message to young people as Hull's first ever youth well-being festival gets under way.
Manifest 2009 will be launched in spectacular style this Friday (10th July) at 11.30am when a group of young people who have experienced mental health problems abseil down the side of the Holiday Inn on Ferensway, unfurling a 12 metre banner, and talking to members of the press about their experiences.
Organisers hope that the stunt will attract hundreds to Hull City Centre for the festival itself, which takes place on Saturday 18th July at Hull Truck Theatre between 12.30 and 6pm.
Manifest is the result of over 12 months hard work by members of Hull's Young People's Parliament who last spring voted overwhelmingly in favour of giving young people in the area a voice on mental health and well-being. A sub-group of the Parliament wrote to NHS Hull and gained support from Chief Executive, Chris Long to take the work forward through the public health department. Ellie Donkin, a member of the sub-group said: "We are really pleased that the resolution about raising awareness about mental health was passed last year when we attended Hull Young People's Parliament. It's great that it has resulted in Manifest 2009 taking place!"
Kate Macdonald, event co-ordinator and Managing Director of Jellycat Media Ltd, said: "Manifest 2009 is not just for young people with mental health problems. Everyone has mental health. The event will give young people the chance to try out a whole range of fun activities they can use to improve their mental well-being as well as giving them a say in how mental health services in the area develop.
A traffic-stopping extravaganza, which will be revealed on the day in St Stephens Square at 12.30, involving hundreds of teenagers from seven Hull secondary schools, will kickstart the festival in carnival style. The festivities will then continue at Hull Truck with live music sets from up-and-coming local bands, including Hull Urban Collective, Jodie McKenna (featured on Channel 4's Secret Millionaire) and special guest, Shinobi's Mikey J who will be doing a DJ set.
Events will be centred around a series of zones, corresponding to the five ways to well-being - connecting, being active, taking notice, learning and giving. Free activities and workshops will include rap performance poetry, meditation, a DJ workshop with Mikey J, dance, drama, pottery and an opportunity to abseil from the top of the Hull Truck building. There will be a video gaming competition and the chance to win a in Nintendo Wii console in a free prize draw. BBC Headroom will also be creating a festival chill-out tent.
Funded by NHS Hull's Public Health Department the project aims to bring young people together to reduce the stigma associated with mental health problems and allow them to influence the development of support and services which they want to access.
A spokes person from Humber Mental Health Teaching NHS Trust commented: "We are proud to be part of Manifest 2009. We hope that it will get young people to understand more about mental health so they can help us to tackle stigma and discrimination. We want young people to be involved in helping us to make sure we've got the right services for the future."
Media enquiries: Steve Walsh, tel. 01482 348933, mob. 07815 655015
Editors' Notes
Manifest 2009 is a partnership between Hull Youth Council, NHS Hull, Hull City Council and Humber Mental Health NHS Teaching Trust. The event is being co-ordinated by Jellycat Media Ltd (www.jellycatmedia.com).
Organisations involved on Saturday 18th July include: The Warren, Rights and Participation Project (RAPP), PSYPHER, CAMHS Primary Care Mental Health Team and schools from across the city and in particular Kingswood Academy of Arts.
One in ten children in Great Britain aged 5-16 have a clinically recognisable mental disorder. Source: Survey of the mental health of children and young people in Great Britain, 2004. Nearly 80,000 children and young people suffer from severe depression. Source: Office for National Statistics, 2004.
The 16 to 25 age group is a particular priority in terms of mental health provision, as it is strongly associated with emotional turmoil brought about by transitions in life. Offering support to young people who are struggling, as well as to those who are suffering from psychosis, can prevent enduring and chronic ill health from developing further. Source: YoungMinds report, 2006.
New Economics Foundation's centre for well-being has developed a set of five evidence-based actions - connect, be active, take notice, keep learning and give - that, if practised regularly, can improve personal well-being. Source: http://www.neweconomics.org/