AN annual fundraiser that aims to break the stigma behind mental illness while raising money for charity through a music festival will be taking place next month.
Every year David Scott, Jamie Scott, Chris Waddington and Ellen Taylor organise a number of fundraising events, including a music festival, to raise money for MIND - a charity that provides support to people dealing with mental health issues.
“The four of us do something for MIND every year, the past few years we’ve done it for the national MIND charity because we assumed that the money would stay local but when we found out it wasn’t we decided this year to do it for the local MIND so the money does stay in Barnsley,” said David.
“We have our main music event in March and this year we have the Barnsley Mayor opening it.
“We’ve got 12 bands playing from 12 in the afternoon until midnight and there will be a fun fair and other things to do on the day.
“We put a lot of effort into it and we plan it about six months in advance. So far we’ve raised about £8,000 over the past two years and this is our third year doing it and we’ve got an aim to raise £5,000 if we can.
“We realised that there’s a big stigma behind mental health, a few of us who plan it have suffered and we know people who have suffered quite bad and we want to get the word out and get people to talk about their problems.”
MINDfest will take place on March 2 at Ings Lane Sports and Social Club and updates and information about tickets can be found on Facebook here.
