Manchester Mind: The charity fighting for better mental health, 30 years and counting
Mind has been providing an essential mental health service for three decades - and is now holding the city’s hand through the biggest crisis in living memory.
Pleas for help came from beyond the Crescent-shaped skyline hanging heavy over Manchester’s most dilapidated neighbourhood. But they all fell on deaf ears.
A disastrous social housing experiment had left an entire community abandoned on the doorstep of the city for years.
But then, in 1989, some people started listening.
A cluster of of mental health workers moved into the Z-Arts (originally the Zion Arts Centre) building on Stretford Road, setting up a support group called the Hulme Action Research Project (HARP).
Suddenly, residents had someone they could talk to.
It changed everything.
In the years that followed, Hulme clambered back to its feet, and that little support group morphed into one of the biggest, most important charities in the region: Manchester Mind.
During the past thirty years, Manchester Mind has reached beyond its inner-city suburb origins and right across Mancunia – providing vital services to thousands of people living in the borough.
Today, the organisation is holding the city’s hand through the biggest crisis in living memory.
Research revealed over half of adults (60%) and two thirds of young people (68%) experienced a dip in mental health during lockdown. Those who experienced mental health problems in the past felt them resurface, whilst others began to suffer the pangs of depression and anxiety for the first time.
Mentally, Manchester has suffered more than most. But given the circumstances, this perhaps shouldn’t come as such a surprise.
The arrival of World Mental Health Day means we’re 284 days into 2020. For 175 of these, Mancs have been banned from seeing loved ones.
Other than a three-week window in July where it was deemed ‘safe’ to see friends and family, local residents have been urged to avoid any social interaction outside their bubble for six months.
Some people shielding have been unable to visit family since March 23. That’s 201 days of no face-to-face contact.
When these sobering stats are laid bare, it’s a wonder how we’re all still trudging on at all.
Mercifully, we have Manchester Mind.
The charity has carried a troubled region through the initial phase of the pandemic and is now helping residents ride a grim second wave by providing a huge variety of essential services.
These range from The Listening Ear (allowing young people and adults to make telephone appointments with staff) and mental health guidance to food projects – delivering freshly prepared ready meals for people struggling with access to items either due to loss of income or isolation.
Manchester Mind has also got peer support available via video chat and support in place for young people – with one Mental Health Practitioner actually setting up a makeshift office from home to guarantee students across four schools in Manchester always had someone to talk to.
World Mental Health Day is approaching at a poignant moment – and the charity is calling it “biggest yet”.
To mark the big day, Manchester Mind has struck a partnership with wellbeing and music festival Headstock – hosting a two-day virtual event with a stellar lineup starring huge performers and talks from the likes of Ricky Hatton and Brandon Block.
Manchester Mind had previously collaborated with Headstock to stream an incredible Ian Curtis tribute back in May.
The charity also embraced the hashtag #NeverMoreNeeded as part of an initiative to connect with more people in quarantine. And ahead World Mental Health Day, Manchester Mind has launched another campaign: #DoOneThing.
This initiative is dedicated to getting everyone involved in boosting mental health in Manchester by taking a single action – whether that’s reaching out to a loved one, starting a fundraiser, or sharing a story.
As we head into what’s being referred to as “a difficult winter”, Manchester Mind is under no illusions as to the scale of the challenge ahead.
But the organisation is facing this task head on with tenacity, commitment, but most importantly of all, positivity.
“The important thing to remember is that things can get better, and they will – even if it doesn’t feel that way,” Sam Harwood, Manchester Mind’s Communications Manager, tells us.
“If you know someone who’s struggling – reach out. Ask them if they’re ok. But most importantly of all – listen.
“Listening without judgment is a powerful thing – especially when you don’t just jump in with advice.”
Surprisingly, the anticipated surge in phone calls at the dawn of the pandemic did not materialise.
Perhaps Manchester was too busy scratching its head and trying to figure out what was going on rather than getting lost in its own thoughts.
Either way, Sam says the quiet period was something of a blessing – enabling Manchester Mind staff to take a beat, get set up remotely, and ensure they could continue providing services when demand would inevitably soar again.
Measures were also put in place to check on employees’ own mental wellbeing – particularly when anxiety spread throughout the region and the charity soon found itself busier than ever.
“We know that many people have developed new mental health problems as a result of the pandemic and, for some of us, existing mental health problems have gotten worse,” explains Sam.
“But 90% of our services have been able to continue remotely – we’ve done our best to make sure we can support as many people as possible.”
Manchester Mind’s herculean efforts have not gone unrecognised – but Sam acknowledges there’s still much more work for them to do.
“There’s always been underinvestment in mental health,” she says.
“There’s still a lack of understanding and stigma. Men, for example, may be scared they’ll just get told to ‘man up’.
“But this virus has shone a light on the importance of wellbeing.”
“As our CEO Elizabeth Simpson talked about recently, this pandemic is a defining moment for Manchester and mental health awareness.
“We need to learn from this; we don’t want to go back to how things were before. It’s an opportunity to reflect on how to do things better, adapt and change.”
We all miss our families. We all miss our friends. We all miss living, full stop.
But even in the most unsettling of times, none of us are ever alone.
Not with Manchester Mind just a phone call away.
Speak to the amazing team at Manchester Mind on 0161 769 5732, Monday to Friday. You can talk to them about anything – whether you’ve got a friend in need or you’re experiencing problems of your own.Learn more via their website.
Feature
Five Manchester artists we’ve been listening to this month | June 2025
Danny Jones
Hello there. That greeting may be giving Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars vibes, and we can’t lie, we have listened to some cantina music while working this month… but not as much as we’ve been immersing ourselves in more new Manchester artists.
You should know the drill by now, and it is very much a what-it-says-on-the-tin scenario, but every few weeks, we round up some of the music – all crucially hailing from the Greater Manchester area – that we’ve been listening to of late.
We don’t discriminate when it comes to genre either. There’s only one simple rule: if it’s good, then we listen to it and then, hopefully, so do you.
Get your playlists at the ready.
Five Manc music artists we’ve been listening to recently
1. Arkayla
First up for June are relative newcomers Arkayla, whose name is inspired by “a terrible Oasis demo” from 1991 (their words, not ours – thought it is…) of the same name, a.k.a. ‘I Will Show You’, in which describe Liam Gallagher’s now legendary as once sounding “like a dodgy Ian Brown impressionist.”
However, there’s nothing dodgy about these lot and, thankfully, they’re in an era when you don’t have to hand out tapes recorded in the Boardwalk basement on the street to be heard. The Manchester band, which only formed in 2020, may be Standing on the Shoulder of Giants, but they’ve already got a sound.
There’s an unmistakable British indie element to them and hints at everything from The Kooks to The Lathums, but most notably, there are ’60s guitar notes and some real maturity already. Standouts include ‘Ella Malone’, the acoustic version of ‘Lost In a Valentine’, where the lead singer, Cal Blakebrough, really shines, and ‘Rita’ is such an addictive track.
They don’t get more unknown, undiscovered, but sure to be up-and-coming than iNNAFIELD, who are a female-fronted psychedelia-forward five-piece with roots in Brighton but building a career in 0161. Having recently shone at The Deaf Institute playing a support slot at Academy 1, they have our interest.
If a glimpse of lead singer Jessie Amy Leask’s curly hair, 70s belts and long, flowing skirts plants Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac in your mind, you’d be right in thinking so; a listen to their other live tracks scattered across their socials confirms there’s plenty of other influences going on too, though.
Now, they’ve only got one proper recording out on Spotify called ‘Tell Me What’s On Your Mind’, but we’ve had it popping up on our algorithms everywhere, and we can see why: there’s soft, twinkly strumming, soft almost sleepy vocals before a nice big breakout at the end. Glorious stuff.
No, not that one, the Princess of Monaco isn’t back from the dead, but ‘r Grace Kelly, who is based right here in Greater Manchester, is playing her part in the ongoing country revival taking place across the music world, offering her soulful voice and faux American-folk vibes to our ears.
She may not be a Mancunian by birth, having moved from New Zealand to our shores back in 2022, and although the weather change might have been a big sea change for her, there’s no culture shock to be found in her style; from the audio to the aesthetic, it still somehow feels pretty authentic.
Uplifting acoustic guitars, drum brush strokes, solos, Southern-twang harmonies – you name it, all the ingredients are there. The thing is, if you spend enough time immersing yourself in a genre, you can still pull off tracks like ‘Carry On’, ‘San Jose’ and the intimate ‘For Us To Change’.
We’re really lane switching when it comes to genre this month; maybe it’s because festival season is in full swing and we’re just being exposed to so much different stuff in a short space of time, all we know is we’re not complaining about it.
And neither should you, especially when you’ve got names like hip-hop, grime, soul and flag-flying Afrobeats rising star, Prido, being platformed. Blending all the above with R’n’B and a sprinkling of not just Northern but easily detectable Manc slant, it makes his music stand out in the ever-thriving space.
‘Free Ur Mind’ was the first track we ever heard, so we’ve struggled to shake that as our favourite, but ‘DND’ is a supremely dancey but chill example of laid-back of the genre that you need in your mixes this summer, and we also have a soft spot for his verse on the sensual ‘Lifeboat’ by Prima.
Last but not least on our list of new Manchester artists for this June, we’ve got local DJ Josh Baker, whose name you might recognise from the headlines surrounding Parklife 2025, as his set was unfortunately cancelled due to problems out of his control.
Festival-goers flocked to The Matinee Stage for a highly anticipated back-to-back bill of Baker followed by Dutch counterpart Chris Stussy, both of whom have thrilled some of the biggest club crowds in the country – sadly, he didn’t get to do so this time. That being said, we thought we’d give him a shout-out.
We’ll confess to only having got around to his discography following this news, but ‘Back It Up’, ‘Something To Me’, and ‘You Don’t Own Me’ with Prospa and RAHH are all bangers. We’re looking forward to listening to more.
And that should just about do you; there are five artists and, at the very least, 15 new tracks for you to give a go – there should be at least of few of them you like.
But, let’s be honest: be it unheard, new, current, old or anything in between, Manchester music very rarely ends up being filed in the skippable category.
Then again, you can always check out last month’s list of Manc artists from last month and see if you get a better hit ratio.
Featured Images — Prido (via Facebook)/Arkayla (via X)/Grace Kelly (via Facebook)
Feature
You can sleep in a luxury train carriage at an old railway station in Greater Manchester
Thomas Melia
There’s an Airbnb listing in Delph where you can stay in a classic converted train carriage, and it’s even situated in an old train station, so someone buy my ticket ASAP.
Get ready to have the best train experience of your life, as the only cancellation you have to worry about is booking the day off work.
The Carriage at The Old Station is a two-person character property in Delph, Saddleworth that offers you the chance to live out your vintage fantasy by stepping back in time on a luxury static train coach.
It may be situated at an old station, but the interior is refreshing and light with mint blue beams, fuchsia cushions and a royal red carpet and curtains.
As well as a majestic interior, this carriage has an equally impressive amount of amenities, including a Bluetooth sound system, board games and its own indoor fireplace.
This Airbnb is fairly new too, with only 44 reviews to its name – the first only dating back to September of last year; don’t say we don’t find you some absolute gems.
Inside the Airbnb that’s an old converted train carriage.The interior of this Airbnb listing is bold and impressive.
One user even stated, “We regularly stay in five-star locations and this surpassed five-star easily! We highly recommend a stay here.”
While another opened her review with three simple adjectives that we also feel perfectly sum up this train carriage property perfectly: “Opulent, indulgent, extravagant”.
It should come as no surprise that this place is beautiful inside and out, as in the description, host of the property Nigel states he’s a retired designer.
The train carriage stay is also close to a proper country pub, The Old Bell Inn, as well as the Diggle canal walk if you fancy a stroll and a pint before tucking into bed in your old train carriage for the night.
Even the bathroom has pops of colour throughout.You could stay in this train carriage at an old train station.
If you’re after boarding The Carriage at The Old Station and having a fabulous overnight stay or mini holiday of your own, you can find the Airbnb listing and everything you need to know HERE.
The Manc -
10th October 2020 
