Staff at a Belfast tattoo studio are offering mental health tattoos to help raise funds for a local charity.
Supremacy Tattoos, currently based in Rathcoole but in the process of moving into their new studio on the Antrim Road, will be offering semicolon tattoos for £10 to raise funds for the Lighthouse Charity.
It's part of the Semicolon Project launched by charity Suicide and Prevention Awareness UK (SAPUK) in 2019. The reason for using the semicolon, as outlined by SAPUK, is: "It's represents a sentence the author could have ended but chose not to. The author is you and the sentence is your life."
Read more: North Belfast mental health charity is a beacon of hope for those suffering
The team at Supremacy Tattoos will be tattooing from early in the morning until night on Tuesday, April 5, at their new studio facing Madigan's Court garage on the Antrim Road in a bid to do as many of the tattoos as they can.
Speaking to Belfast Live, they said it's important to them that all money raised on the day stays in the local community, as there is an exceptionally high incidence of suicide in North Belfast.
The studio's owner, Thomas Kerr, said: "We're trying to make a considerable difference, we're hoping to tattoo 500 people throughout the day. We'll be open from early morning until late that night.
"Everyone has had mental health issues touch them. My sister took her life a couple of years ago. I didn't know her too well as I have extended family I didn't know.
"But I knew her for a few years before she did take her life, but even then she didn't feel she could reach out and speak or ask for help. It's so strange to think people won't ask for help - they will for other things, but not for this."
Kurtis Taylor added: "The semicolon represents the continuation of a story. It doesn't end with a full stop, it's a continuing on. It matters a lot to us to be able to raise as much as possible for Lighthouse on the day."
The week between Christmas and New Years in 2021, three people in North Belfast took their own lives.
"That's three families around here with a member missing in the space of a week," Kurtis continued.
The team recognise that tattooing can be an escape for many people, and they've often had customers sit in the chair and open up to them.
"We get a lot of people coming into the studio who talk to us. Within a few minutes of someone sitting in the chair, it's like they're in a safe space, they just open up to you," Thomas said.
"If you're tattooing someone, you could be in physical contact with them for up to eight hours. If you're in that sort of personal space for that length of time, you're trusted. We very much have an ability to be able to make a difference, even if it is to just one or two people.
"I remember one specific client of mine used tattooing to replace self-harm, so when she felt she needed it she would contact me and said she needed in ASAP, and I knew the reason why, so I would stay late to tattoo.
"She weaned herself off all her medication with help during lockdown and doesn't rely on it anymore, so she got a celebratory tattoo at the end of it. She was able to use that method of replacing the pain and learning how to deal with it."
Kurtis added: "It's a waterfall, information will drop out. You'll talk to them for a few minutes then off they go."
Studio Manager, Stephen McMahon, was a customer for seven years before joining the team. He said: "I had been going to Thomas for about seven years and he's heard me crying a lot of times, and it's helped a lot."
As well as offering mental health tattoos on April 5, staff from Lighthouse Charity will be in attendance too for anyone who feels like they need to speak to a professional.
Thomas said: "Lighthouse are operating a pop-up booth on the day. If anyone feels like they need to come in and chat, there's a safe place to go.
"We have a specific room left aside so people have privacy. You're not going to walk in to get a tattoo and walk out with no help."
You can find out more about the Lighthouse Charity and get in contact by clicking here.
Anyone who needs to talk to someone about mental health issues can call the Samaritans on 116123 or Lifeline on 0808 808 8000 .
Read more: 'I thought about taking my own life every day - now I'm helping others'
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