AUTUMN | FEATURE
Suzi Green
hosted around 260 people in total .
“ We ’ ve had people all across the industry , from tours manager , who are perhaps concerned about an artist , through to promoters crew and artists themselves ,” says Maltman .
Music Support learning and development specialist Hannah Brinley says she has also noticed more people knowing other mental health first aiders in the industry , and generally being more aware of the importance of resilience and wellbeing when touring : “ A lot more people are identifying as neurodiverse in some way . This used to be a rarity , now there is at least one person who has ADHD or similar . People are much more likely than they were to share about it openly , how it ’ s affected their lives , especially their work lives , and how they manage it . Generally , the pressures post-Covid are the same , the build-up to festival season people are more aware than ever of the likelihood of both festival attendees and crew needing mental health support .”
The charity ’ s head of service development and delivery Georgina Levers says its caller presentations have become increasingly complex , and she is currently managing the highest number of cases since she started in February 2021 . Levers says new ADHD diagnosis is becoming increasingly common and often co-occurring with addiction , while helpline email volume has increased significantly .
“ A lot more people are identifying as neurodiverse in some way .”
Are you ok ? This year more than 150 people have applied for Backup Tech ’ s AJ Bursary , named after the late Alan Jacobi , former Backup trustee and Unusual Rigging MD and founder . The charity provides financial support to industry technical professionals , crew and production personnel .
Backup Tech recently held its annual Kartfest , which raised more than £ 50,000 for the charity – an increase of £ 15,000 from last year . The event hosted more than 30 live events industry companies , including Unusual Rigging , Creative Technology , Showforce , ESGlobal , Tait , Brit Row , Audia Technica and Event Cycle . As part of the event , the charity launched its Are you OK ? campaign , which aims to signpost access to both urgent and non-urgent mental health support , with a focus on freelancers who are not otherwise supported .
“ I know first-hand the impact that mental health issues can have ,” says Autograph managing director and Backup trustee Scott Arnold , who is open about his general anxiety disorder . “ It ’ s wonderful to see these companies already getting behind the message to ensure the resource is utilised in an industry where mental health support has not always been a priority .”
Post Covid , the demand for counselling has gone through the roof , according to both Tamsin Embleton , director of the Music Industry Therapist Collective ( MITC ) and Backup Tech ’ s Jess Allen .
Allen says that since February Backup Tech has gone from two to three cases a month to the same number per week : “ There ’ s still a stigma , that will take a while to go , but it ’ s going in the right direction .”
The charity offers three types of support – a hardship fund , medical grants and wellbeing support .
“ Before people would normally need
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