Mind the Gap: Mental Health Conference 2021

Mind The Gap Society will be holding a 4-day mental health awareness conference, starting 3 May.

Meg Howe
1st May 2021
Feature Image: Mind The Gap
Mind the Gap, Newcastle University’s mental health society, will be holding its seventh annual mental health conference from 3 to 7 May 2021.

The four-day event is open to all, and will consist of talks and interactive workshops run by guest speakers and mental health charities.

In a pandemic-free year, the conference would be in-person, but this year Mind the Gap has adapted the event for it to take place online.

In the interest of attendees, Mind the Gap has decided to hold the conference as a series of evening talks, from 7 pm onwards, to also avoid an all-day Zoom burnout.

Mental illness is a serious issue facing young adults, with one in five experiencing mental health problems

Haaris Qureshi, the Conference Lead

Haaris Qureshi, Conference Lead, told The Courier: “mental illness is a serious issue facing young adults, with one in five experiencing mental health problems in a given year. Despite this, there is still a large amount of misunderstanding and stigma around mental health.”

“Every year Mind the Gap has run a student-led conference, although we also hold smaller events throughout the year.”

The yearly conference aims to encourage participants to question their everyday thinking about mental health and hope to instigate discussions as to why mental health is still a taboo topic in modern-day society. That is why the talks and workshops are centred around personal experiences and explore coping mechanisms.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 conference was cancelled for the first time, but this year, the conference includes several major speakers.

The current confirmed speakers are:

  • (3rd May) Katie Budenberg: Why ditching diet culture is the best thing you can do for your mental health
  • (4th May) Dave Chawner: Comedy for coping
  • (5th May) An eating disorders workshop run by local BEAT ambassadors
  • (6th May) Charlotte Cree: Creative expression when words are too difficult
  • (7th May) Alisdair Cameron: Making things better? How the mental health system is changing

Qureshi continued: “the best thing about the conference is that it is all free to attend from your own home!”

“I would definitely encourage people who have never considered engaging with mental health activism and awareness to give some of our sessions a try.”

More information can be found via Instagram, @mindthegapnusu or Facebook, NUSU Mind the Gap. Students and members of the public can register their interest and get their free conference ticket from the NUSU page.

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AUTHOR: Meg Howe
Passionate History student and Educator

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