Hot off the heels of yesterday’s (Sunday 23rd February) Helplines Awareness Day, music & mental health social enterprise, Headstock, has announced a collaboration with text messaging service, Shout, to launch The Great Big Shout Out (TGBSO) – a fundraising campaign that will see the Greater Manchester music community come together to support the mental health of everyone working in the UK industry.
The month-long campaign will run throughout April 2025 and will raise essential funds to support the ongoing delivery of ‘MUSIC’ 85258 – a partnership between Headstock and Shout to offer free, confidential, 24/7 mental health support to anyone in the music industry.
In addition to raising funds, The Great Big Shout Out has been created to help raise awareness of the text support service, which exists to provide round-the-clock support to anyone working within music – from musicians themselves through to the incredible people working tirelessly behind the scenes.
The campaign will also celebrate the positive impact music can have on our mental and emotional wellbeing.
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The Great Big Shout Out is calling on musicians, music students and live music venues from across Greater Manchester to come together to help raise funds, raise awareness, and ultimately raise the roof for a life-saving cause. By hosting or participating in TGBSO fundraising activities, the music community can help ensure that no one in the industry has to face their mental health challenges alone.
There are all kinds of fun ways for people to get involved including fundraising gigs, busk-a-thons and music-themed quiz nights, and for any music venues looking to support the campaign, suggestions include voluntary ticket add-ons; round-up campaigns (Pennies), and even the creation of a campaign-themed cocktail.
To help participants get the most out of their fundraising activities, Headstock & Shout have created a number of free resources for people to use to promote their event – including a digital fundraising pack, which is packed full of ideas for how to get involved. The fundraising pack – along with supporting campaign assets such as downloadable posters, flyers, social media graphics and sponsorships forms – can all be found on The Great Big Shout Out campaign page on Shout’s website.
Pop star Will Young, Shout’s patron said: “The digital mental health service that Shout provides is an absolutely vital one. Shout’s collaboration with Headstock on the Great Big Shout Out and MUSIC 85258 shows how, through music and live events, we can all come together to raise the profile of essential support for such a deserving industry’s mental health and wellbeing.”
All money raised via The Great Big Shout Out will help ensure that support is available 24/7 for anyone working within the music industry – simply by texting ‘MUSIC’ to 85258. Here’s how donations to the campaign will help change people’s lives:
- £10 can help someone in distress to access an hour of mental health support by texting the word ‘MUSIC’ to 85258
- £25 can fund a clinician to provide expert supervision of conversations with texters on Shout’s digital mental health platform
- £250 can train a new shout volunteer to take life-saving conversations
Victoria Hornby, CEO of Mental Health Innovations, the charity powering Shout, said: “The music industry is full of incredibly talented and passionate people creating beautiful new sounds. Over 50% of our texters tell us that music is a lifeline when they are feeling low. But we also know that the pressures of the industry can take a serious toll on mental health. We’re delighted to be working with Headstock to ensure that everyone in the industry has access to free, confidential, 24/7 mental health support, through our Shout text messaging support service.
“The Great Big Shout Out is a fantastic opportunity for the community to come together, raise awareness of the support available and generate vital funds that will help us continue to provide life-saving support to anyone in need.”
Image: Algy3289/Algy O’Connell, Creative Commons via Wikimedia Commons
