Silver and Gold Membership+ members of VONNE have the opportunity to include a guest blog on our website. Silver Membership+ members, Blue Spirit are sharing information on their upcoming event, to encourage organisations working in mental health and wellbeing join them to discuss topics of suicide prevention and bereavement support.
If you are in the Newcastle area, please join us for the showing of Blue Spirit’s film and photo essay In his Slipstream.
In the summer of 2022, the bereaved family of a young sailor crossed the channel under sail as complete novices, embarking on a journey through grief, a journey of reflection and togetherness. In his Slipstream – a film and photo essay created around this voyage – “gently shines a light” on suicide and its impact on families and the wider community around them.
Extending this invitation to organisations working in the fields of bereavement, mental health & wellbeing and suicide prevention, as well as those that work with young people, the Blue Spirit team hopes that these creations could become useful tools to promote suicide prevention and encourage discussion of the wider impact on families and those left behind.
Blue Spirit enables young people (aged 14 to 25) who are experiencing a mental health challenge or facing social / economic disadvantage to experience the freedom of sailing. Blue Spirit is a registered charity which was set up in memory of Laury Gratiet who took his own life at a young age following struggles with mental health. Although things became too much for Laury in the end, he was always happiest at sea.
The screening will be followed by a chance to chat with each other and with some of the people involved in the film over a cuppa, make connections and discuss the issues raised. Tickets are available on Eventbrite for a nominal fee. Please book as places are limited. Thank you!
“In this moving documentary we are taken on an inspiring journey alongside a family as they struggle with grief after the tragic loss of a son, brother, nephew, cousin and friend. … We are inspired and profoundly moved to see how this heartbreaking loss is transformed into a powerful project, Blue Spirit, designed to help people in their times of need, where through sailing they can learn to deal with these challenges and find ways to regain their health and wellbeing.” Miranda Wild.