'We're all completely mad here...you'll fit right in...'
With the tagline 'Be curiouser and curiouser about mental health', Salford Mad Pride returns to Swinton's Victoria Park on Saturday 9th June for an even bigger Mad Hatter's Tea Party.
Throughout the day there'll be live performances, arts, crafts, children's games, stalls within the Wonderland Walk and lots and lots of mad hats. There's even a bling a hat workshop...
On the main stage, DJ Roscoe will be introducing live acts including the Firestorm Cheerleaders, the Jane and Mike Band, the Salford City Singers, Ellen Wilson and Jay Ahmed. Plus, there's poetry and stories from Powerlines, All Write on the Height and Terri Cox.
Between 1:30pm and 2:30pm everyone is invited to a Mad Hatter's Tea Party in his marquee which promises 'delicious cakes and fizzy wizzy tea', followed by the Mad Hatter's Conga through the park. There's also a Hunt The White Rabbit game and silly croquet, giant card and jenga games.
In Alice's Picnic Garden guests are asked to help build a huge Lego garden, while on Hatters Hill, mental health charity MIND will be holding mindfulness sessions, START Art will be creating a 'sea of hands' to launch its campaign for suicide prevention, and the Recovery Academy will be building a Recovery Tree. Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust will also be publicising its range of services.
The day has been put together by a range of organisations, including Achieve, Salford Poverty Truth, Community Pride, Salford Council and Salford CVS. Also taking part is community group VoiceBox, which will be bringing its pop up cafe van, named Simon LeBongo, to the event...
"We will be there offering tea and coffee, and cake, to say 'Hi' to people and to enjoy the day" says VoiceBox's MargaretMary Carroll "It's a great opportunity for people to talk about things. When the press publicises mental health they normally pick up stuff that sells papers unfortunately, but mental health can, will and does happen to a lot of us through trauma, loss of people, loss of job, no money...
"We all live on this planet and have the same kind of mental difficulties in dealing with certain things, so it can come in any shape or form" she adds "I think the Mad Hatter is a great idea. We are dressing up in our hats, wearing different shapes and colours of hats to represent that our heads are different kinds of heads...we think differently, we approach problems differently. It doesn't mean that one person's trauma is any more or less than anyone else's, it really doesn't matter; it's how we deal with it.
"If we don't deal with our worries, we tend to become poorly and isolate ourselves" she explains "The Mad Hatter's parade is saying 'I am here, I sometimes worry about my mental health and sometimes I find life difficult to live but it's nothing to be ashamed of because we're all in the same boat...'"
MargaretMary asked other members of VoiceBox what the day meant to them...
"Heard of Gay Pride? Course you have...Well, meet Mad Pride, a celebration of 'mental' and the real, raw, richness it brings" says Amanda "We all wear different hats...Let's make the 'mental' just one part of our wardrobe...not something to keep hidden away in the closet!"
"Mad Hatter sounds like a great way for people to choose their avatar" says Chase "Be the highest representation of yourself. Walk in someone else's shoes or hats. Be a cowboy, a pirate, a cop, or posh lady at Aintree. Wear the hat and explore your identity from the inside/out..."
"People wear different hats to go with their different faces" says Tony "Their different faces represent their different moods and mental health..."
Meanwhile, Jamie Hunter, a research public advisor at the NHS in Merseyside, also thinks the concept of the Mad Hatter is an excellent idea*
"It's to showcase the benefits people suffering with mental problems may be secretly hiding, such as skills and attributes they possess, whether that be a talent in arts and crafts, pottery, singing or relaxation and mindfulness" he explains "It will help bring out the Mad Hatter character in the people, not literally but as a euphemism..."
And to have fun doing so...
Salford Mad Pride 2018
Saturday 9th June 11am-3pm free
Victoria Park, Swinton M27 4
For further details see the Salford Mad Pride Facebook event page click here
* Jamie recommends people view a music video by Pink, Just Like Fire, themed around mental health and used in the Alice Through The Looking Glass film. To view it on YouTube click here
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