Mark Malcomson CBE

Mark Malcomson CBE took over as Principal and Chief Executive of City Lit in June 2011. Mark was previously Director of Executive Education at London Business School, 2007-11 and prior to that President of the New York Institute of Finance. He will be chairing and presenting a number of events throughout the week. 

In conversation with Paul Farmer CBE, CEO at Mind / Wednesday 12 October / 9:30-10:30 at City Lit

Neurodiversity in the workplace / Wednesday 12 October / 10:45-11:45 at City Lit

Baroness Sheila Hollins

City Lit Fellow Baroness Hollins is the Patron of the Mental Wealth Festival. She is the founder, editor and lead author of the Books Beyond Words series and Chairs the Board of Beyond Words. She is Emeritus Professor of the Psychiatry of Disability at St George’s, University of London, and sits in the House of Lords as a crossbench peer.

Neurodiversity in the workplace / Wednesday 12 October / 10:45-11:45 at City Lit

Sharon Wilson

Complimentary Kindness was created to connect people and communities in a kind, uplifting and positive way. The creator, Sharon Wilson, is a Best Self Coach, who supports individuals to be their best selves. As part of being your best self includes being kind to yourself and others, her Complimentary Kindness workplace activities are a fun and novel way to connect/reconnect employees and teams and make them feel valued and recognised by the organisation.

Complimentary Kindness Booth / Wednesday 12 October / 12:00-onwards at City Lit / This is an open event, so just drop by, say hello and share a compliment!

Paul Farmer CBE

City Lit Fellow Paul Farmer has been Chief Executive of Mind, the leading mental health charity working in England and Wales, since May 2006. Paul is Chair of the NHS England Independent Oversight & Advisory Group which brings together health and care leaders and experts to oversee the current mental health long term plan for the NHS in England. Paul Farmer has been a supporter of City Lit and a regular speaker at the Mental Wealth Festival for many years. 

In conversation with Paul Farmer CBE, CEO at Mind / Wednesday 12 October / 9:30-10:30 at City Lit

Ruby Wax

Join us for a Frazzled Cafe online meeting, hosted by City Lit Fellow Ruby Wax. Frazzled Cafe meetings are designed to provide confidential and non-judgmental peer support, where people who are feeling overwhelmed by the stresses of life can talk openly, connect and feel heard. If this is your first time attending one we encourage you to have a look at our website which will tell you a bit more about what to expect: https://www.frazzledcafe.org/about/.

Frazzled Cafe online meeting / Tuesday 11 October / 17:30-18:30 online

Charmaine Watkiss

Charmaine Watkiss was born in London to Jamaican parents, she lives and works in London. She completed her MA in Drawing at Wimbledon College of Art, 2018. Her work is concerned with what she calls ‘memory stories’. She creates narratives primarily through research connected to the African Caribbean diaspora, which is then mapped onto female figures. Recent exhibitions include Breakfast Under the Tree, curated by Russell Tovey at Carl Freedman Gallery, and Drawing Attention: Emerging British Artists at the British Museum. Charmaine currently has a solo show at Leeds Art Gallery.

Art at the Intersection - culture, identity and mental health / Monday 10 October / 13:00-14:30 at The National Gallery

Sonia Boue

Sonia Boue has a performative and responsive multiform visual arts practice. She is also a writer and a consultant for neurodiversity in the arts. Situated between her studio, and online spaces, Boué’s practice encompasses many forms to articulate a concern with home and the domestic as metaphors for exile and displacement. This touches both on the historic and the contemporary, and is often autobiographical. She is also at the forefront of neuro-inclusive research based arts practice in the UK. Her work has been exhibited internationally and is held in digital form at Tate Britain, the BBC, and Bodleian Library in Oxford. 

Art at the Intersection - culture, identity and mental health / Monday 10 October / 13:00-14:30 at The National Gallery

Anna Woolf

Anna Woolf FRSA is London Arts and Health’s Director. Anna has lived experience of birth trauma and has worked with UCH maternity (2018) Tea and Toast: Poems for New Mums, Maternal Journal Maternal Journal (2021) and The Mum Poem Press (2021) Songs of Love and Strength exploring this topic. At London Arts and Health, Anna has driven content and ideas around cultural social prescribing, practitioner care and networking with key stakeholders in Creative Health across London. 

Everyday Creativity / Friday 14 October / 11:00-12:15 at City Lit

Nisha Halai

With a courageous life of encountering mental and physical crises, Nisha Halai's work as a Transpersonal Arts Counsellor and Multi-Disciplinary Artist are testimony of our potential to transform oneself and others, in personal, cultural and spiritual ways. She launched Apple Aniseed Arts in 2017, creating opportunities to practice Goethean listening through simple Eurhythmy movement and guided art-making.

Everyday Creativity / Friday 14 October / 11:00-12:15 at City Lit

Professor Amanda Kirby

Professor Amanda Kirby is the founder and CEO of Do-IT Solutions, a tech for good company that provides tools, training and consultancy in the area of neurodiversity and wellbeing. Amanda is an emeritus professor at the University of South Wales and an honorary professor at Cardiff University. She is a qualified GP and has a Ph.D.  relating to emerging adulthood and neurodiversity. Amanda has a new book on Neurodiversity in Education coming out in first quarter of 2023.

Neurodiversity in the workplace / Wednesday 12 October / 10:45-11:45 at City Lit

Rob Stephenson

Rob Stephenson is an international keynote speaker and mental health campaigner who is on a mission to help create happier, healthier and higher performing workplaces. He experiences bipolar disorder personally. Rob is the founder of The InsideOut LeaderBoard, a charity with the mission of smashing the stigma of mental ill-health in the workplace by showcasing senior leader role models with lived experiences of mental ill-health.

Neurodiversity in the workplace / Wednesday 12 October / 10:45-11:45 at City Lit

Shocka

Kenneth Erhahon, better known by his stage name Shocka, is a rapper and mental health advocate from Tottenham, London. He gained recognition for being one/third of Grime collective Marvell alongside Double S and Vertex. After dealing with mental health issues himself, Shocka became a Mental health advocate to help those with their own problems with his music. He has since aimed to raise awareness of mental issues and has been a speaker on TED and a guest on numerous talk shows.

What's Going on in Your Head? Presents #BeTheLight / Wednesday 12 October / 15:00-16:00 at City Lit

Louisa Rose

Louisa Rose is CEO of Beyond and the founder of Now and Beyond - a free, national mental health festival for the educational community. Previously, Louisa worked as a social media consultant for ten years and is particularly interested in reinforcing healthy social media habits for young people. Louisa is diagnosed with depression, anxiety, Tourette’s and OCD and publicly reflects on her personal mental health journey. Louisa is married and a mother of two young boys.

What's Going on in Your Head? Presents #BeTheLight / Wednesday 12 October / 15:00-16:00 at City Lit

Stu Mills

Stu Mills is Founder and Director of The Noisy Brain. Stu originally worked in advertising, design and marketing. He escaped the UK, accumulating various worldly experiences from over twenty years living and working across Asia, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, and South Korea.  Currently Stu works from the shores of a sweaty, humid Singapore, from where he established 'The Noisy Brain’, a global Social Enterprise that aims to help people with mental health issues and up-and-coming musicians through lyrics, music and social connection.

The Noisy Brain: Conversation & Live Music / Friday 14 October / 14:30-16:00 at City Lit

Billy Crabbe

Billy Crabbe is a music producer, artist and educator based in London, UK. Since graduating from Berklee College of Music in 2013, he has been an active member of the music industry as a singer-songwriter, performing gigs in both the US and UK, as well as having the opportunity to feature songs on BBC Introducing, iTV's “This Morning” and, other International blogs.

Currently, Billy is mixing projects for other artists and preparing for his debut album.

The Noisy Brain: Conversation & Live Music / Friday 14 October / 14:30-16:00 at City Lit

Jon Salmon

Jon Salmon is an award-winning video executive producer, a digital pioneer and co-founder of branded entertainment agency Byte Entertainment. Jon is one of the directors of the Speakers Collective, challenging stigma and facilitating important conversations. Co-produce What’s Going On In Your Head exploring the secret inner workings of the mind through performance art and discussion. A trustee for Let’s Talk About Loss a charity for young people who have been bereaved and Co-Chair & Champion Time to Change Waltham Forest.

What's Going on in Your Head? Presents #BeTheLight / Wednesday 12 October / 15:00-16:00 at City Lit

Maurizio Anzeri

Maurizio Anzeri is an Italian contemporary artist living and working in London. He works in a variety of media including sculpture, photography, drawing and traditional craft techniques. Anzeri´s pioneering work in which he intricately embroiders directly onto found photographs with coloured thread in “an alchemic process of obscuring and revealing, erasing and enhancing” established him as an internationally renowned artist.

Art at the Intersection - culture, identity and mental health / Monday 10 October / 13:00-14:30 at The National Gallery

Jemima Frankel

Jemima Frankel is the Head of The January Challenge at 64 Million Artists, working year round to promote everyday creativity and community engagement - with a big celebration in January! She works with community members across the UK to co-create challenge ideas, and with different organisations to explore ways to engage staff and community groups in accessible, shared creative activity. Before 64 Million Artists, Jemima worked as a creative facilitator in different community spaces.

Everyday Creativity / Friday 14 October / 11:00-12:15 at City Lit

Matt Rawle

Matt Rawle was born in Birmingham and studied at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.  Matt is a British stage and television actor, and has appeared in many high-profile West End productions which include Martin Guerre, Evita, Warhol and A Midsummer Nights Dream, working with directors including Sir Trevor Nunn, Mellie Still and Michael Grandage. His performances in the theatre have seen him nominated for numerous awards, including WOS, TMA and Olivier awards. Matt has also starred in a wide range of TV productions, including Holby City, Doctors, Father Brown and Baghdad Wedding.

The Joy Ensemble with Matt Rawle / Tuesday 11 October / 10:30-12:00 at The Bethlem Royal Hospital 

Ian Tucknott

Ian Tucknott is an educator, cultural theorist and creative practitioner, with 15 years experience of teaching & managing in the areas of contemporary art, critical & cultural theory, and art history. Ian Tucknott is one of the organisers of this year's Mental Wealth Festival and he will be chairing and presenting a number of events throughout the week.

Everyday Creativity / Friday 14 October / 11:00-12:15 at City Lit

Clare Barton-Harvey

Clare Barton-Harvey is a practising artist and tutor, specialising in art and mindfulness, drawing, painting and slow looking. She is a full time artist and tutor/trainer living in London. In her teaching, she specialises in life drawing, drawing and mindfulness, working with colour, and painting from the imagination. Clare has been a practicing artist & mindfulness practitioner for over 25 years, and has taught drawing and painting for over 18 years, in a variety of locations currently including the National Gallery and British Museum. She is also co-founder of LIMINA collective who specialise in mindful engagement with art in galleries and museums.

Drawing Breaths: the art of drawing and mindfulness / Tuesday 11 October / 17:30-19:30 at City Lit

Ben Hicks

Ben Hicks trained as actor and spent 15 years working in television, film and theatre. He then moved into the charitable sector and ran The Guardian Foundation, the Guardian newspaper’s charity which promotes diversity in UK newsrooms and supports freedom of expression around the world. Ben has recently moved in the field of mental health and leads ADRU’s creative work with patients. He is passionate about the therapeutic potential of the arts and compassionate communities.

Words in the Woods with Ben Hicks / Tuesday 11 October / 13:00-14:30 at Bethlem Royal Hospital

Vaccasin

Vaccasin started meditating with the Transcendental Meditation School in London in 1981. In 1986 he joined a Buddhist community in Sydney where he also began to practice yoga. He started his yoga teacher training with Peter Scott in Melbourne in 1990 and completed it at the Maida Vale Iyengar Institute, in London in 1994. He has been teaching yoga and meditation ever since and set up Yoga Point in Brixton, in 2010 with his partner Rebecca Hopwood. Together they endeavour to make Yoga Point a place that is welcome to all.

Dawn Meditation and Yoga with Vaccasin / Tuesday 11 October / 6:00-8:30 at Bethlem Royal Hospital

Ann Memmott PgC MA 

Ann Memmott PgC MA is a well respected adviser on autism, and has nearly thirty years of experience of providing a neurodiversity-enabling workplace.  As an autistic academic, Ann is also an external lecturer for NHS Tier 4 training (mental health and autism) and a social media figure on the subjects of neurodiversity and inclusion.

Neurodiversity in the workplace / Wednesday 12 October / 10:45-11:45 at City Lit