Organising partner: Punk4MentalHealth: Sarah-Jane Campbell, Patrick Griffin & Dr Joel Vos
Music can be an important source of resilience and meaning in times of stress. Therefore, the British charity Punk4MentalHealth has been running online live music events since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 20.000 members in the live audience. These events are a mixture of conversations about mental health, music and fun. The word ‘punk’ is used to describe the attitude of the musicians: punk is about being Authentic, Being yourself, Creative counter-culture, DIY, Empowerment, Fighting narrow-mindedness, Getting together, and Having fun. For over four years, Punk4MentalHealth promotes punk as a mentally healthy attitude to cope with life’s challenges, fights the stigma around mental health problems, and raises funds for mental health charities. Punk4MentalHealth was involved in organising the social activities of IMEC 2019, including live music and poetry during the gala dinner.