It's all a Blur!

Liverpool's Mental Health festival continues...

Monday was a radio day, Tuesday was all about the movies (it was our mental health film night at FACT) and today the emphasis was very much on TV.

We'd organised the filming of a television debate/discussion about mental health and on this occasion, thank goodness, I was an audience member, not an active participant!

We had 5 great panellists - Professor Peter Kinderman from the Psychology Department at the University of Liverpool, Andy Kerr from Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group, Cllr Claire Glare from Liverpool City Council, Monique Collier from the Young Person's Advisory Service and comedian and campaigner Jake Mills.

I first blipped Jake back in May -https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2049067225326816746 - and I couldn't resist posting another shot of him today - doing his hair just outside his dressing room prior to filming! His hand's gone particularly wonky due to the speed of his movement but I love the feel of the image and the warmth of his smile.

Like many of us, Jake has gone through periods of depression and just a couple of years ago he made a suicide attempt. That experience, together with what followed, has turned him into a very articulate speaker and advocate for change in the system and I thought he made some very powerful points today. To say I'm pleased that he and his smile are still with us would be a massive understatement.

It was a long and sometimes difficult afternoon but the frustrations were very much related to production issues and not, I hasten to add, the panel or the audience. We hope we'll learn from the experience and take things much more firmly into our own hands if we repeat the exercise. You live and learn.

Anyway... The programme will be shown 3 times over the next week on local station Bay TV and I want to thank all the panellists and audience members for their commitment and patience today!

Some Blur, obviously.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaHrqKKFnSA