At some point in our lives 1 in 4 of us

will be affected by mental illness.

Bring 3 friends...

RUBY WAX LOSING ITStarring

Ruby Wax & Judith Owen

Comic Relief, registered charity 326568 (England/Wales); SC039730 (Scotland)15 February - 19 March 2011

“The Year of the Black Dog is a great and important campaign.”

Rory Bremner

Following on from the phenomenal success of Losing It, Ruby Wax and Judith Owen worked with SANE’s chief executive, Marjorie Wallace, to stage a series of mental health forums. These free events took place at the Menier Chocolate Factory in London and their purpose was to stimulate debate and inform people about available help. Each forum invited a leading expert from the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and neuroscience to give a talk. Speakers included Professor Shitij Kapur, Dr Mark Collins, Professor Lewis Wolpert and Professor Mark Williams.

Wax/Owen Mental Health Forums with SANE

“Many charities vie for attention. I chose SANE as one of the few I support because they’re not afraid to speak out against stigma and apathy.

They have fought a brave battle to highlight the suffering and needs of people who experience depression and other mental illness. They also have a research centre dedicated to finding out the

causes and better treatments of conditions like schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, anxiety and depression.“

Rory Bremner

Black Dog Campaign launch:Rory Bremner at the E4 Udderbelly Festival on London’s Southbank

The SANE Services team were on hand to offer support, information and signpost people to other resources around the country using SANE’s unique national mental health database. During refreshment periods attendees were given the opportunity to talk informally with speakers.

Ruby Wax and Judith Owen gave a performance of their hit show Losing It to SANE staff and volunteers. The show offers a frank and witty reflection on their struggles with mental illness and is playing at different venues around the UK to great acclaim.

“The speakers who were very good especially because of their humour – which is

helpful to the caring process.”

“Excellent forum. I have a greater understanding of a condition which I have suffered

from for many years.”

Forum participants

And finally… A winning formulaSANE’s mental health forums with Ruby Wax and Judith Owen proved so successful in their first round that they continued at the Edinburgh Festival and at the Duchess Theatre in London where Losing It was staged. Events were well attended by participants from across the mental health community - service-users, their families, friends and health professionals. SANE intends to roll out more forums in the future. Who cares for the carers? SANE will be starting a Carers’ Circle which will be open to anyone who is a carer. Participants will be given the space to talk about their experiences in a monthly support group. These may be particularly relevant for people who feel isolated or stressed but are essentially open to anyone who cares for someone with mental health difficulties ranging from depression, anxiety through to more severe mental health problems. Meetings will take place in Central/West London. We are very grateful to The Ashley Family Foundation for helping to fund this pilot project.

For more information visit our website: www.sane.org.uk and support charitySANE on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

Professor Shitij Kapur from the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s

College London

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Rory Bremner – longstanding friend and patron of SANE – kindly dedicated his show at the Udderbelly Festival to SANE’s Black Dog Campaign, along with supporting actors: Ian Shaw and Hattie Hayridge. Together, they treated a 400-strong audience to the best of song and satire

Internationally recognised jazz vocalist, Ian Shaw performed a mix of colourful commentary and original songs

Comedienne Jenny Éclair’s show, which coincidentally was named Old Dog New Tricks, was playing on the same night

Black Dog in the news

We would like to thank the Southbank Centre and Warren Lakin of Lakin McCarthy Entertainment Ltd for all his support and for donating the proceeds from the evening.

“I think now we are seeing a loss of soul in

the psychiatric services. With all the cuts,

closures and mergers, it is increasingly hard to

provide compassionate care – the one-on-one

relationship of trust on which recovery so

often depends.”

Rory always makes an impressionThe evening at the Udderbelly Festival was introduced by SANE’s chief executive Marjorie Wallace, who joked about host Bremner being “not just bipolar but multipolar”. Rory replied robustly and delivered his brilliant impressions old and new - Tony Blair, Presidents Bush and Clinton, Nelson Mandela and Prince Charles. He delighted with his take on the Coalition’s anonymity: “it’s the only government to take out a super injunction in case any of us find out who they are!”.

“We hope the dogs will stimulate new awareness and give people a language to express their inner feelings of anxiety, depression and loneliness.

It is easier to say you are having ‘a Black Dog day’ or ‘the Black Dog on my shoulder’ than it is to say you are depressed.”

SANE’s founder introduces Rory Bremner to ‘Horace’ the first Black Dog

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