happy soul festival 25 may t 10 june 2012 · 2015-05-22 · over 30 visiting guest speakers and...

Happy Soul Festival

25 May 10 June 2012

The sixth film and arts festival engaging Black and Minority Ethnic

communities to promote mental health and wellbeing

Summary of Activity

Agenda Item 65

Happy Soul Festival 2012 Summary of Activity

CONTENTS PAGE

1. Executive Summary 3

2. Background 6

3. Aims and Key Deliverables 7

4. Delivery of Aims 8

4.1 Delivery of mental health awareness 8

4.1.1. Attendance 8

4.1.2. Ethnicity 10

4.1.3. Age, Gender and Disability Attendance 10

4.1.4. Engaging with Youth Communities 11

4.2 Happy Soul Festival 2012 Programme 12

4.3 Publicity Profile 16

5. Management Organisation 20

6. Conclusion 21

7. Next Steps 21

8. Appendices 22

Appendix 1 HSF 2012 areas attendees live in 22

Appendix 2 - Summary of HSF 2012 Programme 23

Appendix 3 List of PR 24

Appendix 4 Examples of PR 26

Agenda Item 6 Page 16


1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The sixth successive Happy Soul Festival (HSF) took place from 25 May to 10 June 2012. This unique and

ambitious outreach event that originated in 2007

(SWLSTG) Mental Health NHS Trust, took a new slant this year better quality and more focused .

Having successfully completed its first year as an independent charity, the Board of Trustees took an

executive decision to ensure the quality of events held throughout the Festival improved from previous

years, with a more focused delivery to the target audiences.

This was achieved by creating an inspiring film and art programme consisting of 23 screenings and

events that attracted bookings from 2,948 people for the 17 day event. The event bookings were

slightly less (9%) than the 2011 Festival, because HS selected more appropriate intimate community

venues which focused the events and ensured that b t exploited.

To date, HSF is regarded by many people as an example of national good practice in race equality and

community engagement, in line with the delivery of some of the Equality Act 2010 objectives. It has also

provided an important platform to highlight the on-going work of Community Development Workers in

the London Boroughs in which HSF operates, as well as greatly diversifying the number of individual

BME communities it engages with, including service users and carers.

The events of HSF 2012 were extensively evaluated by the use of questionnaires that elicited

quantitative and qualitative responses. An optimistic 23% of the overall audience completed an

evaluation form, which was thoroughly analysed. In addition to the questionnaire analysis, 10% of the

attendees completing an evaluation form were randomly selected to take part in an agreed follow up

phone-call survey, which proved that 91% still felt that they had been positively affected by the Festival

in terms of increasing their knowledge of mental health and wellbeing. 100% stated that they strongly

agreed or agreed that HSF helps to emphasise the importance of mental wellbeing for themselves and

for their community.

rimination

around mental health abounds, of which 87% stated that they strongly agreed or agreed that events like

HSF help to reduce this stigma and 90% strongly agreed or agreed that HSF helped to emphasise the

Agenda Item 6Page 17


importance of mental wellbeing for themselves and for the community. It is clear that work in

creating and promoting a positive mental health message to BME communities, is vital.

Collectively, 57% of the audience claimed that they had not attended HSF before, and 99% stated that

they would recommend others to attend HSF events in the future, proving its capacity for growth and

demand.

One of the benefits of HSF is building relationships with BME communities and year-on-year it offers an

opportunity to develop new sustainable relationships based of mutual trust and respect. In line with its

aims, HSF 2012 extended its work into another London Borough the London Borough of Brent in

partnership with Certitude and Fanon Southside Partnership.

The ethnicity of the audience varied depending on the type of event and which communities HSF

British at

21%, followed by African Caribbean at 15%, African at 13% and Indian at 8%.

For the past four years HSF has successfully engaged with young people, particularly 13-21 year olds,

which it has done effectively through commissioning youth groups to produce new films on mental

health and wellbeing themes. This year, five films were commissioned and screened at the Happy Soul

Youth Awards held at the Holiday Inn Sutton, where the Mayor of Sutton, joined by a range of

representatives from the film industry to government advisors, who presented five different and

noteworthy awards to the young talented groups.

Similar to previous years, the programme of events was devised to be of particular interest to BME

communities. It took place across 21 venues in the London Boroughs of Brent, Kingston, Lambeth,

Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth. HSF included film screenings of high quality classic films,

through to comedy, theatre, live musical performances and community based events. A range of mental

health issues and the factors leading to poor mental health were explored, including slavery, abuse and

violence, isolation, depression, crime, loss and hope, racism, greed, alcoholism, and bereavement.

Over 30 visiting guest speakers and performers helped discuss these topics and de-stigmatise mental

health with the HSF audiences. These included comedians John Simmit, Curtis Walker, Annette Fagon

and Jamie Howard, celebrity chef Manju Malhi, film directors Piotr Szkopiak and Avie Luthra, the

Mayors of the London Boroughs of Brent, Sutton and Merton, local councillors, psychiatrists, actresses



Ann Akin and Catherine Ashton, footballer s Lee Griffiths and Luther Blissett, poet rapper and lawyer

David Neita, and many others.

T Festival was delivered from a budget that was funded by SWLSTG Mental Health NHS Trust,

NHS Wandsworth and Fanon Southside Partnership / Certitude. A significant amount of support was

also raised in-kind, most notably from Cineworld Wandsworth, various suppliers, guest speakers and

presenters.

In line with key objectives for HSF 2012 there was good media coverage with over 40 press items. PR

highlights included a quality TV interview with Henry Bonsu, extensive coverage with Colourful Radio

and the Polish Express became a Media Partner, all of which gave HSF a major London-wide profile.

It would be safe to predict, with the media coverage gained along with social media and website

networking that an estimated 100,000 people heard about HSF, its partners and funders, and

discussions about mental health before and during the Festival this year.

In conclusion, HSF continues to raise its profile and is a successful tool in building sustainable

relationships and mental health awareness in BME communities. It has also been welcomed by its

current funders and continued supporters who see it as a quality mental health awareness outreach

vehicle.

Dr. Tom Coffey, Associate Medical Director NHS London and Wandsworth Senior GP, spoke recently

about Happy Soul saying that he is a huge supporter of Happy Soul as a truly innovative way of

engaging with BME communities using all forms of the arts to de-stigmatise mental health and improve

wellbeing in our communities encourage

Sadiq Khan, Labour MP of Tooting, who described HSF as bespoke to the communities it engages with

and that it s an important tool to tackle the on-going stigma that is attached to mental health

specifically in the hard to reach minority communities . He highlighted the importance of HSF

continuing to get their hands dirty and using fun and interesting ways to promote mental health

and wellbeing to those who may not understand it, are going through challenges themselves or know

someone else in their community who may be.



2. BACKGROUND

The central aim of HSF is to be a major outreach vehicle, which builds new links with local BME

communities and provides a culturally sensitive understanding of mental health awareness in a popular

non-threatening medium (film and arts).

These communities have in the past been under-served by health and social care services and are

services. These communities also generally

experience social exclusion from mainstream public services and this is partly due to the fact that many

BME communities come from a low socio-economic background and feel alienated from the wider

community.

Outreach work conducted in 2007 in London Borough of Merton showed that mental health is often

Asian and African communities and is generally

something to be hidden away and not discussed. African-Caribbean communities have an arguably

better awareness of mental health services, but this is in a negative context, in terms of public

awareness of cases where African-Caribbean men in particular have received un-equal treatment, or

have been badly treated in the UK-wide NHS mental health sector. This has created a culture of fear and

suspicion towards mental health services. In the Iranian, Tamil, Somali and other communities there is

very little awareness of mental health and services available to them. Stigma and ignorance continue to

play a cardinal role in the map of mental health suffering in the UK.

HSF was created in order to gain the trust of and empower local communities. By creating events in a

creative yet impactful way, HSF has helped communities to become pro-active about mental health

issues, to open up and participate in understanding these issues through art forms, wellbeing sessions

and culturally appropriate activities. These approaches have been seen to improve the knowledge of

mental health, they have enabled BME communities to access local mental health services, and

relevance to the BME community has become more important over the years. As a result of a growing

demand for more events HSF has been able to set itself up as an independent charity with effect from

March 2011.



3. AIMS and KEY DELIVERABLES

HSF aims to develop increasing engagement with BME communities. This aim which forms the basis of

, serves diverse audiences and produces culturally appropriate events in the London

Boroughs that HSF serves, focusing on mental health awareness and wellbeing.

HSF 2012 aims:

1. To continue to build awareness and de-stigmatise mental health whilst promoting wellbeing in

Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) communities

2. To attract hard-to-reach BME communities using relevant art forms including films, which

relate to their mental health, to their experiences and culture

3. To create a high publicity profile for the Festival and other on-going HSF events which will help

create an even broader debate and awareness of BME mental health issues in the London

media

In conjunction with the HSF Aims, Key Deliverables for HSF 2012 were:

1. In line with delivering important strands of the Equality Act 2010 involve Community

HSF as a highlight to their on-going work

2. To expand the spectrum of BME communities engaging with HSF. Target audience 2,500+

people

3. To target young people with activities raising mental health awareness

4. To ensure that the programme was developed with community groups and that all events

were free and therefore more likely to attract people of low income

5. To involve service users and carers in HSF development and delivery

6. To continue to grow and develop new relationships with community partners and other key

venues, reflecting the diversity of London

7. To ensure that publicity penetrates the London BME media and that media partners are

developed to help to disseminate the work of HSF



4. DELIVERY OF AIMS

4.1 Building Mental Health Awareness (See Aim 1 & 2)

4.1.1. Attendance

From 2008 to 2011 HSF has been successful in attracting a wide range of BME communities, however

this year the Festival concentrated on quality and better delivery rather than pushing for a higher

audience attendance:

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

Year

2008

Year

2009

Year

2010

Year

2011

Year

2012

Year 2008

Year 2009

Year 2010

Year 2011

Year 2012

Following the expansion of HSF into Greenwich in 2011, HSF sought early on in its planning stages to

expand its growth even further for 2012, and developed a working collaboration with Fanon Southside

Partnership and Certitude to reach into the London Borough of Brent. This new Borough added to the

other London Boroughs HSF continues to work with including, Kingston, Lambeth, Merton, Richmond,

Sutton and Wandsworth.

Of those that attended HSF 2012, the majority at 57% stated they had not attended HSF previously.

However HSF saw a high number of audience members returning to its events, proving that they value

the Festival and get a positive outcome from attending. Of those that attended, 99% confirmed that

they would recommend HSF to others.

Attendees came from all over London and beyond, the following is a brief summary of where the

majority of the audience resides (and a complete breakdown can be seen in Appendix 1):

0%

5%

10%

15%

9%

12%

5%

13%

4%

14%

2% 2%

6%

14%

3%

Brent

Croydon

KingstonUpon Thames

Lambeth

Lewisham

Merton

Richmond Upon Thames

Southwark

Sutton

Wandsworth

Other



through evaluation forms and although responses varied from event to event the following totals were

identified:

Do you think people with mental health problems in London still experience stigma and

discrimination?

Yes 96% No 4%

Do events like this help to reduce stigma?

Strongly agree 40% Agree 47% Neutral 9% Disagree 3% Strongly Disagree 1%

Does such an event help to emphasise the importance of mental wellbeing for you and for the

community?

42%

48%

9%

1%0%

Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree

Do you know where to get help if you experience mental health issues?

Yes 70% No 30%

response is positive response to HSF core aims these

figures can be taken to represent that HSF 2012 had a positive impact on its attendees.

To ensure that the data that HSF has an important impact, a follow up phone call survey was conducted

on 10% of those attendees who completed an evaluation form and ticked they were willing to take part.

Of this 10%, a huge 91% still felt that they were positively affected and more knowledgeable on mental

health and wellbeing by attending HSF. In addition to this positive result a staggering 100% still think

people with mental health problems in London experience stigma and discrimination, demonstrating

the need for more awareness, empowering and promotional events like HSF. This point was further

ratified by 100% of those taking part in the phone survey who stated that HSF is helping to highlight the

importance of mental wellbeing for themselves and for the community they live in.



4.1.2 Ethnicity (Key Deliverable 1 & 2)

Building community engagement with BME communities remained a key priority in HSF 2012. HSF

targeted and attracted a range of BME communities and information was accurately recorded in 2012

from the evaluation forms collated at each event. It must be noted that not all those who completed an

evaluation form recorded their ethnicity; however of those that did (90%) it was collated that the

audience consisted of:

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

13%15%

0%

21%

1%

3%

8% 6%

2%

7%

1%

15%

1%

8%

African African Caribbean Bangladeshi Black British Chinese

Dual heritage Indian Other white Other black Other Asian

Pakistani White British White Irish Other

The crossover appeal of the HSF was again indicated by the fact that a relatively large number of white

communities, including those from the Polish community, also attended the HSF 2012.

4.1.3 Age, Gender and Disability

In terms of age range HSF was seen to attract people of all ages and the following was recorded:

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Under 10 11-18 19-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-65 66+



It must be noted that despite only 14% of the audience being marked as falling under the age bracket of

25 years, this does not represent the true attendance throughout HSF 2012 because it was more

difficult to get youth attendees to complete an evaluation form; however it is a 2% increase on the 2011

Festival.

In terms of gender, the statistics are roughly in line with audiences at other London cultural events but

also may indicate that women are more open with mental health issues than men:

An increased number of people, from 16% in 2011 to 18% in 2012, identified themselves as having a

disability. Of which, they reported to have the following disabilities:

4.1.4 Engaging with Young Communities through Youth Film Commissions (Key Deliverable 3)

In terms of hard to reach communities, effective engagement with young people was made this year

through commissioning youth groups to produce a short film on a mental health topic or issue they may

have experienced. These groups all had the opportunity to get an in-depth experience of making new



films and of finding out more about mental health and what it meant to them. The resulting films were

powerful and challenging exploring issues such as alcoholism, peer pressure, isolation, understanding

their elders, bullying, loneliness, and depression. The films were screened at the Happy Soul Youth

Awards in Holiday Inn Sutton before an audience consisting mainly of young people. This year five

awards were presented by film professionals to government advisors to the talented youths: best short

film, best actor, best actress, best storyline and best soundtrack.

HSF are now building up a library of short film and aim to ensure they become a library resource for

young carer groups, BME youth groups and some after school clubs.

4.2 Happy Soul Festival 2012 Programme (Aim 2 and Key Deliverable 4 & 5 & 6)

HSF 2012 had a diverse free programme thanks to the HSF team. Guidance was also sought from

partners, psychiatrists, service users and the HSF Steering Group to ensure relevant communities were

included, their needs met and the correct audience targeted.

According to feedback last year, comedy was requested to be included within the Festival programme.

HSF 2012 saw the first comedy evening, Happy Soul does Upfront Comedy at Tara Theatre which was a

huge success and demand being so high, seats could have sold out three times over.

Another event that was sought after from the 2011 feedback was an Open Mic session, therefore HSF

2012 held its first Open Mic Poetry Night in The Exhibit to a crowded, talented and thrilled audience.



The programme also screened feature films targeting Polish (Small Time Obsession), Ethiopian (Teza),

South African (Lucky), and African (I am Slave) audiences at Odeon and Cineworld cinemas. An event

called Asia Soul also screened two Asian films (Open Secrets and Dawn of Hope) films which dealt with

depression in the Asian communities. All screenings were introduced by mental health service users,

NHS mental health professionals, or HSF Trustees. They were followed by a constructive and interactive

Q&A.

In addition to this, HSF 2012 also consisted of some exciting community events, including Family Fun

Days, Creative Ways to Wellbeing, Teens Need Teachers, Happy Soul Jubilee Carnival, Together Kingston

and Be Active Brent which saw HSF working in partnership with a number of different local

communities. The majority of events provided free refreshments and cultural food, as well as wellbeing

treatments and information / access to mental health services and wellbeing, and relevant discussions.

Normal at the Lost

Theatre, was included within the programme. This production addressed mental health between two

sisters who had a deeply loving but painfully difficult sibling relationship. This event closed the Festival

successfully and finished the two week event on a high.

A full outline of the programme can be seen in Appendix 2.



The audience evaluation analysis examined what the attendees thought of the contents of the

programmes, as the Board of Trustees wanted to ensure the programme content was of better quality

and more focused / relevant than ever before.

The following graphs demonstrate their feedback:

Audience feedback on the guest speaker they listened to:

40%

0%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Very disappointed Disappointed Good Very good Excellent

Audience feedback on the activities / therapies they participated in:

39%

0%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%




Audience feedback on the film / comedy / play they saw:

52%

1%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%


Audience feedback on the Q&A after a film screening / play they saw:

36%

1%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%




Audience feedback on the venue they attended:

4.3 Publicity Profile (Aim 3 and Key Deliverable 7)

In terms of media coverage for the Festival 40 items were secured for HSF 2012 which included: 12 print

items, 9 online web banners, 15 editorials and listings, 1 TV interview, 3 radio interviews on highly

valued interview slots with Colourful Radio, Bang FM and Voice of Africa, and radio adverts running on 4

different stations.

All of the print, radio and online advertising and press achieved are listed in Appendix 3 and Appendix 4

gives examples of the some of the online PR from HSF 2012.

Based on media coverage an estimated 100,000 people heard about HSF, its partners and funders, or

saw publicity about mental health this year.

The majority of bookings were generally made 1-7 days in advance of an event, which links with the

publicity created at the time.



The graph below shows that the busiest traffic on the HSF website corresponds to print and radio

adverts, editorials and email correspondence distributed.

Overall 6,012 people visited the HSF website leading up to and during the Festival, which is nearly 1,000

more people than 2011 and the graph below shows a new influx of visitors to the site.

The graph below also shows HSF had a large number of new visitors to the website this year too, which

may indicate the



Partners including Fanon Southside Partnership, Certitude, NHS Wandsworth, Wandsworth Community

Empowerment Network and Sutton Council provided further promotional support via their internal

Intranet, websites and distribution networks.

Facebook and Twitter were also utilised to promote HSF 2012 more than ever before, but as a learning

HSF needs to utilise this powerful medium more, to save on marketing costs and also make the most of

its clientele online.

In terms of paper based publicity 10,000 A5 programmes / brochures, 20,000 A6 postcard leaflets and

600 A4 posters were produced for HSF 2012, as well a dedicated e-brochure and e-flyer. These

materials were distributed over three weeks, by volunteers, community partners and HSF staff.

This was the first year HSF produced some promotional merchandise to sell, including Oyster Card

wallets, t-shirts and cotton shopper bags, in order to try to raise some money for future events.



Our research suggested how our audience found out about the Festival and the graph demonstrates

that below:

This is roughly in line with last two years of feedback analysis, again showing the importanc

for the HSF, particularly for community based events. It also suggests that HSF is

expanding due to its reputation and impact. represents email correspondence to networks,

mailing lists, publicity at venues and the workplace.



5. MANAGEMENT AND ORGANISATION

HSF works in line with its Trust Deed, the Governing Document for the charity, to ensure it meets the

rules and regulations of the Charity Commission and HMRC.

HSF has four current Trustees:

Chairman - Raficq Abdulla

Director Stuart Thomson

Treasurer Drew McBride

Secretary Ermias Alemu

The Trustees meet on a monthly basis and all meetings are recorded formally.

Supporting the HSF Trustees conducting the day to day management, organising and implementing HSF

are a core team made up of a:

Manager Sonja Heaslip (Full-time paid)

Festival Events Producer Denice James (Part-time paid contractor)

Festival PR & Marketing Manager Jenni Asiama (Part-time paid contractor)

Festival Events Assistant Malvia Kenlock (Part-time paid contractor)

Festival Programme Researcher & Associate Anna Sullivan (Part-time paid contractor)

Fundraising Manager Erinma Ochu (Part-time commission based)

Festival Advisor - Dr. Peter Byrne (Voluntary)

Administrators Martin Langford, Stephanie Baptist, Stephanie Land (Voluntary)

HSF has also been fortunate to have the many supporters and volunteers offering services including

service users, carers, clinicians and mental health experts.

The Steering Group advised on what the community sought after from HSF, assisted in decision making

and guided the Trustees on the overall programme development. They met on a monthly basis from

February - July.

The HSF Trustees would like to thank all those that were involved in HSF 2012, for their performance,

support and enthusiasm.



6. CONCLUSION

It is very clear that the Festival continues to build sustainable relationships with BME communities and

that the HSF team has not only successfully delivered a diverse programme within seven boroughs but

has also to other parts of London, with new funding streams. This year HSF has

engaged more actively with community networks and service users, both in terms of planning and

delivery.

7. NEXT STEPS

The HSF 2012 evaluation report will be distributed to all community partner organisations and funders,

prospective funders and sponsors.

It has been considered a success by its audiences and the HSF Trustees. Statistics, feedback and

recommendations from HSF 2012 will go on to inform the planning stages, infrastructure developments

and grant / funding applications for the next stages of HSF s work and existence.

The aims over the next few months are to:

- Seek further funding from different avenues identifying a clear return on investment including

new community partner organisations, corporate sponsorship, local council and government

sources

- Develop a short and long term business plan including a strategic marketing plan and realistic

budgeting

- Hold smaller events throughout the year to ensure HSF has a year round presence e.g. Black

History Month and World Mental Health Day in October, possibly a Conference and a

Fundraising Dinner and hold local events in February

- Strengthen its current organisational infrastructure and identify required areas and fill them in

order to create an optimal core team

- Develop its social media and SMART PR plan and Communications Strategy

- Produce the seventh HSF in 2013



8. APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1

HSF 2012 attendees live in the areas:



APPENDIX 2

HAPPY SOUL FESTIVAL 2012 PROGRAMME



APPENDIX 3

PR & MARKETING LISTINGS FOR HSF 2012

Radio

Colourful Radio two weeks

Voice of Africa three weeks

Radio Jackie 10 days

Bang FM Radio three weeks

Print

The Voice x 3 issues

The Metro x 1 issue

Wandsworth Guardian x 1 issue

Eastern Eye x 1 issue

Garavi Gujarat x 1 issue

Polish Express x 1 issue

Panarama Magazine x 1 issue

Lime Magazine - x 1 issue

Brent & Kilburn Times - x 2 issues

Online Web banners:

Wandsworth Council (x 3 pages)

Colourful Radio

Lime Magazine

Wandsworth Guardian

Sutton Guardian

Eastern Eye

Garavi Gujarat

Letter Box Distribution (of leaflets)

Brent

Wandsworth

Sutton

General Distribution:

10 libraries in Wandsworth

9 libraries in Lambeth

8 Libraries in Sutton

8 Libraries in Brent

14 leisure centres in Wandsworth

Primary and Secondary schools in Wandsworth

8 x Community centres in Wandsworth

Arts Council email distribution

Distribution at Wandsworth Festival (Shimmy event)

Cafes, bars and library Crystal Palace

Cafes, bars and libraries Tooting & Wandsworth



Maudsley Hospital

Radio Interviews:

Colourful Radio

Voice of Africa

Bang FM Radio

Editorial & Listings

The Voice editorial print & online

Eastern Eye - editorial print

Brent & Kilburn Times - print

Garavi Gujarat editorial print

Polish Express editorial print

Panarama Magazine editorial print

Wandsworth Guardian - online listing

Sutton Guardian online listing

Lime Magazine editorial print & online

Time Out Event listing print and online

Community Care online

Brightside editorial listing



APPENDIX 4

EXAMPLES OF PR FROM HSF 2012



APPENDIX 5

COMMENTS FROM ATTENDEES AT HSF 2012

Thanks for putting on

such a fantastic

production I really wish

there were more plays

around mental health

I learned a lot today

thank you. I thought

the Q&A after the film

was excellent very

powerful

It would be great

to see some more

workshops or

seminars

I really felt part of

something here today. It

was nice to hear stories

from other peoples

experiences that I could

relate to

How do I hear about more

events? When are you

coming back?! We need

you!!

I think what Happy Soul Festival

does is great, there s nothing like it

out there, but to really make an

impact I think you need to put on

more events throughout the year to

get more of a name for yourself and

spread the word of the importance

of addressing stigma attached to

mental health I ve been to a few events this year and

there s something for everyone from all

backgrounds and communities my

favourite is seeing the children getting

involved which I think will have an

impact on them in years to come


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happy soul festival 25 may t 10 june 2012 · 2015-05-22 · over 30 visiting guest speakers and...

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