Ruaridh Gill tells us about his club night ‘Mind Yer Self’ which aims to raise mental health awareness, tackle stigma and raise funds for local charities.
Me and 2 friends began the club night, Mind Yer Self a year and a half ago. It was started due to a shared love of music, mostly the happier side of club music; soul disco house and anything else in between. So far we have been able to bring some of our favourite DJs and producers to our home at Berkeley Suite including; Damiano Von Erckert, COEO, Austin Ato, Urulu, O’Flynn and Earl Jeffers.
The night was also started with greater aims. These were two-fold. First of all the night raises money for local mental health charities. So far raising over £1,400 for Penumbra, a charity which works extensively with young people throughout Scotland. Secondly, the night aims to raise awareness and lower stigma towards mental ill health among young people. This is done across social media accounts where we share useful information regarding support and share stories of party goers previous experiences of mental ill health to begin a wider discussion among friend groups about mental health. This is a cause very close to our hearts and we all believe it is hugely important that the mental health epidemic among young people is tackled head on in a way that is accessible to young people.
Sadly many young people are embarrassed of their mental health problems and can often feel that they are the only ones struggling and this results in increased isolation. If people can open up more it will hopefully lower this sense of isolation and mean that more people feel able to access the support they need. To use a club night made sense for us as many young peoples social lives revolve around nightlife and it can be a positive avenue to meet new people and we hope a night such as ours can open up the mental health discussion to those attending our nights.
Our next night comes on September 16th with our lovely residents taking control all night! It would be lovely to see some new faces their and continue tackling stigma together.
Read more about Mind Yer Self.
