Liverpool to celebrate tenth children and young people’s mental health NOW Festival
Hundreds of children and young people across Merseyside will take part in Liverpool’s tenth annual NOW Festival in February during Children’s Mental Health Week.
The festival is organised and directed by Merseyside Youth Association’s (MYA) RAISE mental health promotion team, in partnership with Liverpool’s Children and Young People’s Mental Health Support Partnership NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB) Liverpool Place, the Merseyside Violence Reduction Partnership, the Growing Stronger Programme, and the Liverpool Learning Partnership. It will take place over three nights in St George’s Hall.
Speaking about the festival, Damian Hart, Principal Development Manager at MYA, explains: “The inaugural NOW Festival in 2016 set out to engage children and young people across the city in creative conversations about mental health through a focused ‘NOW’ theme. A decade later, despite the challenges of a global pandemic and finding a new home after the closure of the Epstein Theatre, this annual festival has only grown stronger.
“This year, to mark the tenth anniversary, we’re revisiting all previous themes, which include mental health and violence prevention, belonging and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and many more.”
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.
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 2016, and I am continually overwhelmed and inspired by the confidence and creativity of our local children and young people. The festival has demonstrated positive outcomes for children, young people and families over the last nine years. It is a pleasure to support continually and commission such an excellent programme and organisation.”
Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell said: “For ten years, NOW Festival has shown itself to be an incredible outlet for young people across Merseyside to open discussions about mental health whilst finding new, creative ways to express themselves.
“It’s played a crucial role in helping us improve our understanding of how Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) can impact young people as they journey into adulthood as well as showing us the consequences if left unaddressed, how ACEs often contribute to an individual making poor decisions leading them to negative life experiences.
“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. Through our Trauma Informed Training courses, we have equipped more than 3,500 professional adults with the training and awareness to better understand the neuroscience of how individuals learn and develop to help them better support the communities they serve.
“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’m proud to support NOW Fest, and I look forward to seeing how this brilliant platform continues to help young people from all walks of life build a society that understands how adversity can be prevented for generations to come”.
Judith Bairstow, Deputy Head of the Virtual School and ACEs lead in Liverpool, said: “The NOW Festival is a fantastic opportunity for our young people to have their voice heard, and they show us time and again how courageous and creative they are. Growing Stronger, Liverpool’s response to ACEs, is really pleased to be able to support the NOW Fest so our young people can tell us about the adversity they can be faced with, and demonstrate how we can overcome it together.”
The NOW Festival will take place in Liverpool’s iconic St George’s Hall on February 4th, 5th, and 6th from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm.
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.
We’ll be revisiting all previous themes at the 2025 Festival:
- 2016 Mental Health & Technology – Friend or Foe to our Mental Health
- 2017 Mental Health & the Rights of the Child
- 2018 Mental Health & My Education
- 2019 Rise Up – Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) & Resilience
- 2020 Belonging and Mental Health
- 2021 Mental Health & Listening to the voices of children and young people during COVID-19. (An online event)
- 2022 Mental Health & What Needs to Change to Bounce Forwards.
- 2023 Mental Health & Violence Prevention
- 2024 Mental Health & Overcoming ACEs