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Havin‘ a Laugh: Life behind ’The Book’

Our Video will Go live on this page on Friday the 8th of January at 8pm
This event is online & No booking is required

Every year the First Fortnight Mental Health Art & Culture Festival aims to bring thought-provoking and conversation-sparking art across the country to challenge mental health prejudice and stigma.

At Havin’ a Laugh we are delighted to be taking part in the festival this year. We are a mental wellbeing charity based in Sligo providing life-enhancing activities to people in mental health recovery.

In Dec 2019, at one of our monthly social coffee mornings, everyone present, having had their own lived experience found that sharing the ridiculous aspects of their stories and laughing it out was therapeutic.  The idea of a book of uplifting stories sparked to life.

The Book is a collection of real stories by real people, written under the themes of Turning Point, Spirit of Life, Laugh It Out and Childrens. Our video will showcase a selection of the contributors sharing their stories, their music or their art, giving us as insight to Life behind ‘The Book’.

We welcome your donations through PayPal for this event (50% of the donations we receive for this event will be going to First Fortnight).

Aims & Objectives of the First Fortnight Festival

Make the beginning of each year synonymous with mental health awareness, challenging prejudice and ending stigma.

Create a consistent space in the national cultural calendar where citizens can be inspired through arts and cultural events to talk about mental health issues in a non-scripted manner.

Utilise unscripted conversation to change people’s perceptions about the ordinary experience of a mental health problem and the less ordinary experience of mental ill-health.

Advocate for change to the art-making system (artists, art funding streams, art education programmes, cultural venues, arts institutions and discipline-specific festivals and groups) to accommodate the development and production of mental health-themed artwork.

Provide the highest standard of free Creative Therapies to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of experiencing homelessness,
affected by mental ill-health or dual diagnosis.

Provide free mental health care to the cultural sector.

Develop research findings to aid policymakers in the development of a greater understanding of the complex maintaining factors affecting mental health prejudice and discrimination.

Commission and publish research interrogating the efficacy of the services we provide.

Maintain co-operation with relevant partners in the developments of new funding streams and collaborations.

Develop and maintain a workforce and governance structures suitable for the delivery of professional level of activities and service provision that enable voluntary efforts of committed activists.

Our Video will Go live on this page on Friday the 8th of January at 8pm!

Just click on the play button below to launch the video.