Monday 17 November 2014

Mental Health and Me with Chanel

I was excited to coordinate Mental Health and Me on behalf of Liverpool’s Mental Health Consortium for its bravery in tackling a so-called taboo subject and for offering a better alternative to the problem than anti-depressants. While we may not understand everything about mental health, we should all understand that it affects everyone, so why isn’t more work being done to remove the stigma? Perhaps once we start talking more openly about it without fear of looking like the three headed monster, or fear from losing our jobs and never working again or fear from being sectioned we will begin to be able to talk about the problem openly like any other illness. We need to stop thinking like this, ’it’s nothing though, really, I’m still normal, there’s no point bringing it up because people will think it’s a bigger deal than it is and they’ll never treat me the same again.’

Before joining the weird and wonderful world of WoW, I once worked as a door-to-door Charity Fundraiser for the Samaritans, yes I was one of those annoying people with the florescent green anoraks and a clip board rapping at your door asking you in a very rehearsed pitch to hand over your bank details during the England match of the Euro Finals…cringe, cringe, cringe. I remember thinking this would be a lot easier if I was on the Macmillan team, the idea that your monthly direct debit of £8.50 would be used to fund a nurse to support a cancer patient through chemo as opposed to being put towards a new phone line for people to rant about their problems seemed all the more convincing. Sadly, this reaction was confirmed across the look of many people on the opposite side of the door’s faces. But really, what is the difference between the prior and the latter? The money received for both charities would be used to support those suffering from an illness which a) affects everyone and b) is responsible for a large number of deaths worldwide. Everyone knows someone affected by Cancer and everyone knows someone affected by mental illness.

I feel that a creative writing competition focused on mental health and what it means to the individual is a perfect place to start when beginning to try and tackle the stigma around mental illness. Creativity has always been so intricately entwined with mental health, before we even knew what ‘mental health’ was, when all we could explain was the ‘heart ache and [a] thousand natural shocks.’ (William Shakespeare, Hamlet)  From Shakespeare to J.D Salinger, the pain and suffering of the human mind has been well documented through the writing and the expression of the author, before we were able to rely on science for some understanding. It’s therapeutic to write and it’s therapeutic to read, especially when what we are reading mirrors our own pain and suffering.

Organising Mental Health and Me has certainly proven that while people may not always find the words or the strength to speak openly about mental distress, there is definitely some comfort felt in writing about it. The number of entries we received for the competition definitely exceeded our expectations with a steady number of entries per category. The entries covered such a wide scope of issues surrounding mental health including writing on personal experiences with depression, schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, OCD as well as some personal accounts of what it is like to work as a carer. Some entries even focused on what happiness meant to them which was lovely to read as sometimes, while it may seem obvious, people often overlook that happiness is a major part of mental health. I was also quite surprised, although I shouldn't be, that our entries were quite evenly spread across the age groups which again reinforces the truth that mental health affects everyone. I also have to say that I was absolutely delighted by the cover and artwork created for the book by our designer, Rosa Murdoch. I believe that the artwork for the competition was pivotal in helping us to break the stigma surrounding mental health. So often, charities depict their literature and design for mental health in such a clinical way which would make anyone run a mile, but I believe our chosen design is very inclusive, kitsch and reflects the creativity linked with mental health.

It has to be said that one of the most exciting parts of organising this competition was being granted the opportunity to meet the fabulous Ruby Wax who so kindly agreed to meet with us and let us film her announcing the overall winner of the competition who turned out to be the lovely, Gemma Rogers. It was fortunate that Ruby was in Liverpool in September as part of a UK Tour of her show, Sane New World which is based on her book around mindfulness which she wrote after her study at Oxford University where she gained her Masters in Mindfulness-based Cognitive therapy. Following Ruby’s accidental ‘outing’ of her depression, she has since become known as the poster-girl for mental illness. While at first, Ruby claimed she was mortified that her secret had been revealed in the least subtle way, (her face was blown up on a poster throughout every tube station in London with the words ‘THIS WOMAN HAS A MENTAL ILLNESS’ attached), Ruby now owns it and works hard as an activist in tackling the stigma surrounding mental health. Myself and Madeline as well as Sarah and Claire from the Mental Health Consortium, were very excited and humbled to meet her at The Playhouse before her show, she was very down to earth, gracious and happy to help us and accommodate us with what we asked her to do. We would like to thank her for helping us to raise the profile of this competition and I would also have to say that I definitely recommend her book, Sane New World, having read it after I developed a slight obsession with her after meeting her – and also because I found out she co-wrote Absolutely Fabulous. (Amazing!)


On World Mental Health Day, 10th October 2014, we held our celebration event for Mental Health and Me where we announced the winners and runners up for each category and invited the overall winner of each category on stage to read from their work. Each winner and runner up received a free copy of Mental Health and Me book and the overall winner, Gemma Rogers who wrote ‘Letters to Myself’ in the Letters category won a special trophy and a £100 book voucher from News From Nowhere. The celebration was a fantastic event with a brilliant turnout. 


Councillor Alan Dean who attended the event hit the nail on the head when he said:
‘It was a real privilege for all of us, [Councillors] Wendy, Claire & Tim, to be there and to share in what was an uplifting and emotional event. And the same applies to the book that was on sale that night. Again, very moving, emotional and uplifting.’

Looking back at the event, one month after its passing, it is clear how much of a wonderful, positive impact Mental Health and Me has created and it’s great to have a legacy following the competition. One week after the celebration event, we received an email from Liverpool Echo’s Tom Belger, who asked could he write a feature on Gemma Rogers and her experience in coping with and overcoming self-harm which can be read here. In a kind of dominoes effect, we then received a call from a lady who told us she had read about the article in the Liverpool Echo and was wondering how she could purchase a copy of the Mental Health and Me book as her daughter was suffering from a similar experience and she felt that her daughter would be able to relate to Gemma’s story, especially as she was around the same age. The lady pointed out how beneficial it was to have a book like this made as she was unable to find anything similar which her daughter may relate to. We believe this point was reiterated by the fact that for the first time, we completely sold out of 100 books on the first night of sale during the Mental Health and Me celebration event. As well as this, we have also been approached by other charities and organisations who are interested in a partnership to create a similar competition with their cause having seen the very positive effect it has had.

On behalf of everyone at Writing on the Wall, we are delighted that we have helped people to break their silence, share their story and change their life, even if it’s only slightly and we will continue to push forward and create more publications like Mental Health and Me.

Chanel Scott-Jeffers 

Friday 14 November 2014

Roy Garrett RIP

All at Writing on the Wall and The George Garrett Archive project were very sad to hear of the passing last week of Roy Garrett, the sixth of George Garrett’s seven sons. We first met Roy when we held an event during the WoW Festival a few years back, during the early days of the archive project. When the discussion opened up a guy, who had come in late and made his way to the back of the room, put his hand up and startled us by saying ‘I'm George Garrett’s son’! It was a happy coincidence as we had been trying to contact him. But that was Roy’s way. When we had the George Garrett Archive Launch, and subsequent events, he wouldn't want any help getting to them, even though we’d offer, and would make his way under his own steam. Roy was always a pleasure to be with, and regularly expressed his immense enjoyment of the achievements of the project in bringing his father’s life and work to public prominence. He was delighted with the public launch and display, and particularly enjoyed the performance of Two-Tides at The Unity earlier this year. He got the best of the work we have done, which we are told provided many moments to inspire him during the latter stages of his illness. We are particularly proud of the moment of magic we caught with him and his brother Derek on the short film we made of their father’s life, where they spontaneously break into singing ‘Hallelujah I’m a Bum’, the old Wobbly song taught them from his days in America. This moment really brought out his warmth of character and sense of fun. Roy was very generous with his time and regularly expressed his support for our project. On behalf of writing on the wall and all at The George Garrett Archive project, we’d like to pass on our respects to Roy and our sympathy to all of his family.

Mike Morris with Roy at debut of Two Tides 
Mike Morris, WoW Co-Director and Project Manager of The George Garrett Archive Project & WoW Co-Director, Madeline Heneghan.

Click here to view our short film on George Garrett’s life and work, which features Roy and Derek Garrett discussing their father’s life and singing ‘Hallelujah I’m a Bum', the Wobbly song taught them by their father.

Tuesday 11 November 2014

Armistice Day 2014

Armistice Day with a heightened significance. One hundred years. None of those that clung to life in the trenches, or at sea, are with us now, who fought in the ‘Great War’. George Garrett could well have been one of those to lose his life; torpedoed twice, taken prisoner aboard the famed German destroyer The Kronprinz Wilhelm, forced to sign a declaration against taking up arms again and interned only to escape from a camp in Argentina, the very place he had returned from, giving up his youthful days roaming the countryside and living as a beachcomber just prior to the war breaking out. In 1914 he signed on officially as a Stoker with The Potaro, the ship he sailed on back from Argentina to join up with the war effort. He’d been a stoker for some time after being discovered as a stowaway among the hay bales on a tramp steamer bound for Argentina that he’d snuck aboard from the Liverpool docks. He’d secretly cried with the pain of those early days at the stokehold furnace. But he was a big lad, and soon enough his frame filled out to match the task in hand. He served the whole of the 1914-18 war at sea, which in the early days of submarine warfare must have been a life filled with terror for all the seamen above and below decks. There were 9068 deaths recorded of servicemen from Liverpool during WW1. The worst day, with the highest casualties for Liverpool, wasn't Passchendale, or the Somme, but the 7th May 1915, when the RMS Lusitania was sunk with the loss of 1,198 lives. The fate of The Lusitania, blown out of the water off the Irish coast by a torpedo from German U-boat U-20, brought home to a wider public the dangers at sea in wartime, already keenly felt by those who spent their daily working lives on the water. Prior to that moment merchant vessels had neither armed protection nor escort. The Lusitania sank in 18 minutes. Not one stoker working in the depths of the ship would have survived, even if they had sought to make it out, which the majority of them, through pride and honour, and due to the closing of the below deck water tight doors which may have operated, would not have attempted to do. German U-boats sank 6,924 allied vessels during WW1. A 1922 War office report lists British Merchant Navy losses in WW1 at 14, 661. Garrett was awarded two medals, and later sought official confirmation that he’d been forced to sign a declaration against taking up arms, maybe to guard against German spy accusations during the red scares that followed the peace.

Garrett, in helping to organise the unemployed demonstrations of ex-servicemen in Liverpool in the early 1920’s, leading the Liverpool contingent on the First Hunger March in 1922, and in many instances throughout his life campaigning for employment and better wages and conditions for all those at sea and on land, never forget the treatment and suffering of the working classes during WW1. In remembrance of those who died one hundred years ago, maybe this is still the best tribute we can still pay.




Mike Morris

11.11.14

Thursday 6 November 2014

George Garrett: Flowers & Candles

The staging of George Garrett’s second play, Flowers and Candles, on Friday 31st October 2014, was not only an event of historical significance, it was also, and in my view most importantly, a dramatic success. The performance was a rehearsed reading – the actors with scripts, a few props and a touch of dramatic action to ‘lift the play off the page’. However, such was the strength of the performances that I’ve lost count of the number of people who have told me they forgot the cast had the scripts in their hands. This is also a testament to the strength of the play itself, which here needed little embellishment to bring home the full force of George’s writing. In structure, dialogue, drama and pacing, it’s hard to believe that this is the work of a self-taught working class writer, who had put his shoulder to the stokehold shovel before he put his hand to the pen.


Flowers and Candles, set in New York and no doubt written there during George’s second residence between 1923 and 1926, is a development of his first play, Two Tides. Here George has honed his writing, has a much clearer voice, and has strengthened his themes, to particularly devastating effect in the dramatic finale of the young woman Rita suffering through childbirth after being given a dose by Ben, the previously feted son of the matron of the family Mrs O’Prey.



Jean Garrett, daughter of George’s eldest son, Matty, wrote me the following after returning home from seeing the play:

Hi Mike

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to you and Tony, the ‘Garretteers’, Karl and the wonderful cast of actors for staging the performance on Friday. It was superb; took my breath away. The acting was first class, especially the young woman who played Rita. The play really captured the time and place, but it is astonishing that a play 90 years old can address issues of race, gender, class, bigotry with such relevance today. Feel honoured to have witnessed it and yes, it definitely does deserve to be staged. A few years ago, we went to see 'And Men Should Weep' Don't know if you've seen it but it is set in the tenements of Glasgow and was seen as a landmark work in the 1940s in its portrayal of class and gender issues, viewed from a woman's perspective. I think George's plays are as good as this one and as relevant, and Ena Lamont Stewart's play has been staged at the National!

Anyway, it was a magical, wonderful, thought provoking evening and the icing on the cake for us was seeing Derek (George’s son), Warren and Michael (sons of George’s son, Wesley). Thank you for making this happen. Without your efforts, George's work would have disappeared from general view which would have been a travesty.

Best Wishes and see you soon

Jean


All I would add to that is I feel this play is worthy of a full production, and we’ll be working on that for 2015, as well as working to publish and perform more of George’s work as time goes on.
Special thanks from all at Writing on the Wall and The George Garrett Archive to the marvellous cast: Carl Cockram (Director and Mr O’Prey), Paul Duckworth, Laura Campbell, Daniel Hayes, Aimee Marnell, Joe Shipman, Nicola Bentley, John Burns, Rachel Worsley, Leon Tagoe, and Fionnula Dorrity. Special thanks also to Chris Mellor for music. Thanks to The Liverpool Irish Festival and The Bluecoat and all their staff for being extra helpful and supportive – and forgiving (they know what I mean!!).

Mike Morris