Liverpool Comedy Festival organisers are getting behind next month’s Time to Talk Day to help raise awareness of mental health.

The national 2 February initiative, organised by the Time to Change movement which is campaigning to end the mental health stigma, aims to get people talking around the clock about the issue.

The Comedy Trust, which is behind the city’s annual celebration of stand-up comedy, has been enlisting the help of participants and past participants of its Feeling Funny programme to put together a series of online videos and blog entries for the cause.

Feeling Funny is a seven-week programme which aims to address social isolation amongst men living with poor mental health and aims to help tackle the stigma surrounding mental health in communities here in Merseyside.

Participants are guided by a creative practitioner and a professional comedian and the project, which uses comedy to help understand issues in a light-hearted way, culminates in a performance night where those taking part showcase their own routines.

A spokesperson for The Comedy Trust says: “As the Time to Talk campaign states, ‘Conversations Change Lives’ so we want to contribute by sharing stories from our participants and also show how important the arts and comedy are for combating this stigma and improving the mental health and wellbeing of this involved.

“We’ll also release blog entries from our staff regarding the topic, and we’d love for other organisations and individuals to get involved too.”

The Comedy Trust has worked with Time to Change in the past, and in 2014 it delivered an 11-month ‘Stand Up to Stigma’ project in St Helens, which involved a series of short stand-up comedy courses and established open conversations with members of the public.

The organisation’s spokesperson adds: “All year round we run courses for the education sector, community, businesses and people who suffer from mental health problems.

“Our ethos is ‘Creating Happier, Healthier People’ and we live by that mission in all the work we do including the festival.”

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