A Nottingham project which aims to turn young men away from suicide by encouraging them to express themselves through creative writing, illustration and storytelling has won £525 to allow it to begin its work.
The project, which is called The Island and will be run by the newly formed Nottingham Community Artist Network, will take place online after its organisers successfully took part in a recent online event called DAN Soup, when they had to convince judges that their community project deserved financial backing.
Formerly held at the THiNK Space in Nottingham, DAN Soup is a bi-annual event which gives a helping hand to organisations which want to use community activities to alleviate people’s mental health issues and boost their wellbeing.
READ MORE: Derbyshire choir devote CD to Coronavirus victims with proceeds donated to hospital charities
From left, musicians Amy Cisar, Benjamin Zięć and illustrator Raphael Achache, from The Island, a new project which has won funding through the DAN Soup project, which was supported by Lubrizol and has given them £525 so they can help young men express themselves in order to boost their mental wellbeing and reduce the feelings of isolation that can lead to suicidal thoughts.
Led by folk artist Benjamin Zięć and illustrator Raphael Achache, The Island will build on the success of a collaboration between Benjamin, Raphael and Nottingham electronica artist Fang Jr, who previously produced an audio track, illustrated video and artwork based on the theme of mental health.
It drew directly from Benjamin’s own experiences during lockdown, when he saw how friends and family withdrew into themselves, which he says turned them into islands and took its toll on their mental health.
Knowing from personal experience how that sense of isolation can result in suicide among young men aged between 18 and 35, Benjamin now wants to extend the Island project in the hope that by being creative, more men will explore and share their feelings that would otherwise drive them to an isolation of their feelings and wellbeing.
With the coronavirus pandemic still rife, the project will initially take place online, using music, illustration and lyrics as the main outlet for their creativity.
Musician Benjamin Ziec successfully pitched for £525 when he took part in the DAN Soup event, which was supported by Lubrizol.
Benjamin balances his role as a community arts practitioner with a successful musical career and says that music was his salvation during his own upbringing, when, disenfranchised from school, his life changed the moment he picked up a guitar.
He said: “I didn’t have a settled upbringing and I was getting in trouble at school, but one day a teacher saw something in me and offered me a music lesson instead of putting me in isolation.
“Music saved me and it’s given me a purpose. It’s led me to travel and meet so many amazing people and enjoy unexpected opportunities, but the main thing is it allows me to enter my creative flow and communicate how I feel about my life and the world around me.
“That’s incredibly powerful, which is why I believe that we can use music and other art forms and work with the kind of young men who, without help or hope, are at risk of isolating themselves further and further.”
Last year, 4,303 men in the UK committed suicide – it was the highest figure for two years – while Benjamin knows a handful of men in his home town of Long Eaton who have taken their own lives this year alone.
He said: “There is a lot of pressure on many young men to be tough and not talk about their feelings, and so they keep their troubles to themselves with the danger of this isolation resulting in suicide.
“So often it’s saddening to see friends and family say that they’d wish they’d reached out, but the problem is that there are so few opportunities or an easy vocabulary that the young men to express themselves. That’s why our project focuses on facilitating our participants sharing their stories and feeling in a less invasive, more creative manner, where the final project can be shared to strengthen support circles.
“Art is a great communicator and I think by working with a creative team, young men will not only find another way to express themselves beyond work but they will benefit from the act of being creative in the first place.”
The other good cause to win backing on the night was Blue Tonic, a Long Eaton-based project which aims to use swimming and water-sports as a form of therapy to help improve people’s mental health.
It also came away with £525 from an overall pit of £1,050, which was raised on the night and via a donation from Derbyshire firm Lubrizol and the Institute of Mental Health.
Karen Clegg, who represented Lubrizol as one of the judges, said: “All four groups made a strong case for themselves, but The Island and Blue Tonic were convincing winners because of the quality of their presentation and their well thought-out projects, which will use the power of water and music, art and writing to boost local’s people’s mental health and wellbeing.”
