Blackwell’s of Oxford Mental Health Gala
Our Mental Health Gala will run from Monday 20th May — Sunday 26th May and at its heart will be the determination to do everything we can to help remove the stigma associated with talking openly about mental health. This special week will be filled with author talks, workshops, book recommendations, and the provision of information from mental health charities — all aimed at helping and advising those who may be struggling with mental health difficulties, who might be supporting friends and relatives with these difficulties, or who might just be curious about the human mind. It’s something that we’re all really passionate about. The whole shop has come together to create displays and events that will educate, support and even entertain our customers.
We have a preview event on Thursday 16th May. This is a panel discussion between Dr Andrew Schuman, Tom Hayes from the mental health charity, RESTORE, and Fiona Thomas, author of Depression in a Digital Age. The title of the discussion is ‘Why Talk About Mental Health?’ and will be looking at the reasons we think this festival needs to take place.
Throughout the week we have a range of talks and workshops ranging from Jen Wight talking about post-partum psychosis in conjunction with her book Rattled, Karen Ball, author of The Little Book of Sewing, will be giving a sewing workshop, Dean Burnett will be talking about the neuroscience of happiness and Bella Mackie will be expounding the benefits of running in Jog On. From the health benefits of reading and nature, to talks on psychoanalysis and bereavement, there is a wide range of talks. All events are free and can be found through the events page on the Blackwell’s website.
As mental health issues can affect people at any age, we’ve made sure that our Children’s Department is also part of the festival. They will be playing host to Sirius, the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire’s Black Dog.
In association with SANE, the mental health charity, this 4ft resin statue (sorry, not a real dog) is touring the schools of Oxfordshire in order to spread awareness and enable young people who are suffering to find the help they need. We’re delighted that he could make a stop with us. The High Sheriff, Richard Venables, and Marjorie Wallace, CEO of SANE will be with us to tell us all about this fantastic project.
As well as raising awareness, our booksellers are raising money for RESTORE through a sponsored run, bike ride and read-a-thon. There are collection tins at every till point, so it’s really easy to make a contribution. We will also have therapists from Elmore Community Services here to support anyone in need.
Our bookshop is all about connecting people to books — books that people will enjoy, books that will help people in their studies and books which will improve people’s lives. Our bookshop is also about a friendly connection with those who visit us and we always have in mind the importance of being a community bookshop. You can keep up to date with the Mental Health Gala and loads of other bookish news by following the shop on Twitter.
