Award-winning Bristol born comedian and speaker, Stuart Goldsmith, performed a one-off special stand-up gig at BGS in Monday’s Sixth Form assembly. His visit was part of a bid to tackle how to talk about mental health head on, for both parents and their children, a challenge being addressed by the YoungMinds ‘Talk it Out’ pilot, which is being supported by the cheese brand Leerdammer.
Everyone who attended received informational material which linked to a website which signposts to further support, expert advice and where guidance from YoungMinds can be found.
YoungMinds is the UK’s leading charity fighting for a world where no young person feels alone with their mental health. The ‘Talk it Out’ initiative aims to help parents and young people to get talking and have better conversations around their struggles with mental health.
Stuart said: “I often talk about my own mental health experiences in my comedy so understand how important sharing can be in helping to get the support needed.
“YoungMinds offer such brilliant services to young people and parents, such as myself, so I was so excited to help – it’s a brilliant idea and hopefully will lead to families becoming much closer and open in their conversations.”
Aruna Gunawardana, assistant head and mental health lead at Bristol Grammar School, added: “At BGS we work with families to build wrap-around care for our pupils, giving them the tools and encouragement to talk openly together about mental health.
“It’s a privilege to have Stuart here as another voice, and a creative one at that, to engage with our community and highlight ways to approach what can feel like a difficult subject.
“Mental health is all about connection, and Stuart’s engaging approach will undoubtedly help us all on the journey to destigmatise and encourage more of those meaningful mental health conversations.”
You can visit the Talk it Out website here: https://talkitout.leerdammer.co.uk/