I have experienced firsthand a great deal of stigma due to my mental health difficulties. In early 2013 Artcore UK got in touch with me and asked to exhibit some of my artwork to gain an understanding of different people's mental health issues. I discovered that exhibiting images created by mental health service users can raise the public’s awareness of mental health difficulties and therefore reduce associated stigma.
I got friends involved to help set up Borderline Arts and began to establish what and how they wanted to reduce stigma surrounding Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). The imporance of using the arts was core to our activities and we began to create and facilitate creative workshops, exhibit art and perform drama pieces - all of which aim to raise awareness and break down stigma surrounding mental health issues - specifically Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).
In April 2015 Borderline Arts moved into an office premisis and became a registered charity - it is going from strength to strength. It has been a journey and the have been great highs and lows but with an amazing team Borderline Arts is thriving.
To continue the work we do, we need to raise funds to cover costs - in order to do this, several of us are going to get sponsored to create artwork non-stop for 8 hours from 10pm on Sat 24th - Sun 25th October. Some of this artwork will then be auctioned off on Sunday 15th November.
We do not have any paid staff, so all that we raise goes directly into furthering the work we do, including art therapy sessions for carers of people with BPD, creative writing workshops for individuals with BPD, educational workshops for healthcare providers to improve services offered to those with BPD, art exhibitions of work created by those with BPD and theatre/film pieces about BPD.
Any amount you can give really will make a difference.
Thanks
