Liverpool’s ninth children’s mental health NOW Festival
Schools, community groups, and organisations working with children and young people across Merseyside will participate in the city’s ninth annual NOW Festival next month during Children’s Mental Health Week.
Organised and directed by Merseyside Youth Association’s (MYA) RAISE mental health promotion team, in partnership with the Liverpool Child Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership and School Improvement Liverpool, the festival will take place over three nights at the Liverpool Lighthouse in Anfield.
With an estimated 1 in 5 young people having some form of diagnosable mental distress, the NOW Festival provides a platform to raise awareness, challenge stigma, and explore ways of building resilience and improving mental health.
Speaking about the festival’s theme, Lucy Oliver, Festival Producer, explains: “The RAISE Team at MYA are thrilled to host our 9th NOW Festival. This year, we are revisiting the theme of ACEs – Adverse Childhood Experiences; there have been so many developments in the field since our last ACEs-themed NOW Festival five years ago.
“We now have an appointed ACEs coordinator in the city. Young people’s voices have been listened to and continue to be at the forefront of their performances. Feedback from one of our audience members last year said it was the best piece of youth-work training they had ever attended.”
The NOW Festival is based on youth engagement, with the planning process beginning early in the academic year. Participants receive support and mentoring workshops from the NOW Festival team, with the initial workshop exploring the theme. Each group creates a 15-minute or less piece of devised drama, music, film or dance, all based on mental health and the NOW theme.
Judith Bairstow, Deputy Virtual School Head and ACEs Project Co-ordinator, School Improvement Liverpool, said: “SIL are proud to support this year’s NOW festival. We have been working together, alongside Liverpool City Council, to coordinate and strengthen our response to ACEs for adults and children.
“We are looking forward to seeing the talents of our young people showcased on stage and to listening to what they say about overcoming ACEs.”
Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell said: “NOW Festival provides an incredible opportunity for young people across Merseyside to express themselves creatively by opening up and exploring important topics relating to their mental health.
“It’s crucial we all improve our understanding of how ACEs can impact young people as they journey into adulthood and, if unaddressed, can often contribute to negative experiences and poor life choices.
“We are working hard to prevent the harm that can be caused by ACEs by creating better opportunities that help young people realise their full potential. Much of this work is driven by our fantastic Violence Reduction Partnership, which is committed to preventing adversity in the first place by building protection and resilience for those young people, families and communities who have suffered trauma.”
“I would encourage schools and youth groups across our region, if they aren’t signed up to take part, to come along to watch to help us to learn from young people from all walks of life, helping create a society that understands how adversity can be prevented, how we can build resilience within our young people and how we can focus on positives and strengths to overcome negative experiences.”
Lisa Nolan, Senior Programme Manager (Mental Health) Cheshire and Merseyside ICB, Liverpool Place, said: “The NOW Festival has grown from strength to strength since it was first launched in 2015 and I am continually overwhelmed and inspired by the confidence and creativity of our local children and young people. The festival has demonstrated really positive outcomes for children, young people and families during the last 9 years, and it is a pleasure to continually support and commission such an excellent programme and organisation.”
The festival takes place from 6th – 8th February at the Lighthouse Theatre in Anfield.
Tickets can be purchased here
ENDS.
For more information, please get in touch with Sally Edgar at Sally@sallyedgar.co.uk
Tel: 07900187654
Notes to editors:
About the NOW Festival
The NOW Festival was founded in 2015 by Kath Thompson as part of her work with the RAISE Mental Health Promotion Team at Merseyside Youth Association. Kath envisioned the idea of an arts festival whilst teaching Performing Arts in South Africa, where she worked across several young people’s arts festivals and saw first-hand the empowering effect these festivals have on young people.
The NOW festival aims to engage young people in a creative discussion around mental health, through whatever ‘NOW’ issue is chosen by the team and young people’s steering group.
What will be covered at the 2024 Festival?
- Children and young people engage in creative discussion around mental health and overcoming ACEs through whichever creative means they choose.
- Each piece will have a key mental health message and a clear message about collectively supporting young people to overcome adversity.
- The piece will each feature a series of clear and realistic messages for change aimed at different levels of society, i.e. communities, schools, government, etc.
- Each piece will explore several themes associated with mental health and overcoming ACEs.
- Each piece will demonstrate resilience, underpinned by the resilience framework and how the systems around children and young people can support them to feel more resilient.
The NOW Festival takes place during Children and Young People’s Mental Health Week. It allows young people to discuss, learn and explore mental health whilst gaining a fantastic amount of experience. The festival incorporates the main message that the CAMHs partnership shares across the city: ‘ Mental Health is Everybody’s Business’.