A charity in Nottingham has set up a Just Giving page to raise money to replace the After Life bench that was donated by comedian Ricky Gervais. Local residents were horrified after the bench in the Arboretum was vandalised earlier this year leaving it in pieces.
East Midland's based charity, BlOkes is aiming to raise £500 or possibly more to replace the bench and provide additional funding streams for Nottinghamshire-wide mental health schemes and initiatives. The money will be equally split and donated to Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council to support local residents who are struggling with their mental health.
Tom Homes, founder of BlOkes was upset to see the mindless violence and destruction of the bench which he felt had become a positive landmark for the city. Nottingham is home to two of the 25 chairs that were donated by Netflix and the Campaign Against Living Miserably charity (CALM).
He said: "Being a Nottingham-based charity, we were really disappointed and upset to see the mindless violence that happened to such a positive landmark in the city. Having been donated by Netflix and CALM, it was such a positive place in the city for people to come and reflect if they were trying to cope with bereavement or if they were struggling. We are based in Nottingham so we wanted to do something about it, even if it was a small thing to try and help."
The charity hopes to keep the fundraiser open with a view to providing much-needed funding for smaller mental health start-ups that can often get passed by when it comes to financial support. BlOkes started in 2020 as a start-up and has Tom says financial support can help to get smaller charities off the ground when they start out.
"First and foremost, we want to raise enough money to cover the bench but we want to provide the councils with additional funding streams. This could help to fund local mental health start-ups as what tends to happen is that the bigger pots of funding get given to established larger-scale mental health projects."
He added: "We wanted to do something for people who are in a similar position to myself and BlOkes when we first started. It would help to support people from being self-funded through to having that extra support to get it off the ground. Ultimately, we are all working towards the same goal and we want to help those who are in the same position."
Tom founded BlOkes in 2020 as a men's mental health charity to provide men aged 16 and over with a safe online space to discuss how they are feeling. Topics discussed range from having a difficult time at school or university or work to supporting those who are living with a diagnosed mental illness.
"It's all about encouraging peer-to-peer support and ultimately the goal is to show the power of positive conversation. It shows men that they are not alone and that there are other like-minded men who can empathise with how they feel," he explained.
"The conversation around men's mental health is getting stronger each year and it's definitely becoming an accepted topic to discuss but there is a lot of work to be done. At the end of the day, it's about providing men with options as mental health is not a one size fits all approach. Something that works for one person may not work for another so it's about providing multiple options to see what works for them."
The fundraiser has had a great reaction as donations and messages of support have poured in. The amount currently starts at over £340 which is 68 percent of the £500 target. Tom has been really pleased with the result and touched by the messages that people have left.
"I've been really pleasantly surprised and it clearly shows that there is a desire to replace the bench and bring about something good from this sad situation. It's brought a lot of people closer as they banded together to try and solve the problem. It's not just the financial support but people's reactions have been fantastic and heartwarming. It shows there is a desire to improve mental health provision in Nottingham to get a positive result out of what happened."
The donation page for the After Life bench can be found here
