Talk for Health hosted its annual showcase event at Islington Town Hall on Thursday the 9th – Cracked! 120 people joined us to hear Grayson Perry, Kate Prince and Nicky Forsythe talk about mental health and how individuals deal with the cracks in today’s society – and how they shape them.

Grayson gave a highly entertaining but serious talk about identity and the process of finding ourselves and accepting change. We’re not alone – we are part of society and as such “we are a collection of experiences and relationships – we don’t live in isolation. Our identity is co-created continuously starting from the moment that we’re born”, he said.

Nicky presented Talk for Health and how it offers people a safe community to talk and share experiences. A place where we can be free of the “social ozone layer” of pressures and expectations. This is so much more relevant at a time when “Loneliness and isolation remain the key predictors for poor psychological and physical health”. (The Mental Health Foundation, 2016)

Kate Prince presented a clip from The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party – ZooNation’s fun and thought-provoking take on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. “in a nutshell (the play) celebrated the notion that there is no such thing as normal.” Kate explained how the point of the show was to use dance and music to liberate particularly younger people and get them talking about mental health.

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Talk for Health teaches groups of people in the community the skills of ‘therapeutic talk’: how to self-reflect and talk truthfully, how to listen empathically;  they then go on to participate in a network of ongoing peer counselling groups.

To find out more about Talk for Health email info@talkforhealth.co.uk