Park(ing) day
Bails of hay, real grass, some bunting and a picket fence on the side of the road in Dublin city centre, a site you couldn't miss, well unless you were me and walked right passed it without even noticing but I realised where I was meant to be when I saw some hay in the middle of the street!
I think this is a great idea to be honest, especially that it gives organisations such as See Change the chance to share the work that they do and promote positive messages. I spent a few hours walking up to people and offering them these FREE stickers. People I approached were shocked when I told them they were free, not everything needs payment!! I was surprised that so many people were also willing to wear the stickers, for every sticker that was given out a small ripple would have been made. If at least one or two people saw a sticker on their friend it may have began a conversation about mental health, it could have encourage a person to seek help and it could have made a ripple. One little free sticker can have a huge affect on how a person choses to deal with their mental health.
Today I attended park(ing) day in Dublin city centre to help hand out FREE stickers with the guys from See Change to encourage people to talk about mental health to break the stigma of metal health. If your like me you might not have a notion of what park(ing) day is because up until a couple of weeks ago I didn't know either.
"PARK(ing) Day is a annual open-source global event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public places. The project began in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio, converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in downtown San Francisco. Since 2005, PARK(ing) Day has evolved into a global movement, with organizations and individuals (operating independently of Rebar but following an established set of guidelines) creating new forms of temporary public space in urban contexts around the world.
The mission of PARK(ing) Day is to call attention to the need for more urban open space, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat … at least until the meter runs out!"
I think this is a great idea to be honest, especially that it gives organisations such as See Change the chance to share the work that they do and promote positive messages. I spent a few hours walking up to people and offering them these FREE stickers. People I approached were shocked when I told them they were free, not everything needs payment!! I was surprised that so many people were also willing to wear the stickers, for every sticker that was given out a small ripple would have been made. If at least one or two people saw a sticker on their friend it may have began a conversation about mental health, it could have encourage a person to seek help and it could have made a ripple. One little free sticker can have a huge affect on how a person choses to deal with their mental health.
I enjoyed contributing to breaking the silence of mental health and sharing the message of the work that is done by See Change. I think a huge well done is in need for Scott who got real grass and bails of hay into the city centre and set up an amazing little park. A well done to all the volunteers who helped out including the people from Bodywhys and thank you to everybody who wore a sticker today :)