Music festival turns up the volume on men's mental health
Three-day Break the Silence event was billed as 'loud music – real conversations'
The team behind a three-day music festival held to raise awareness of men's mental health have been thanked for raising a “marvellous” £811.56.
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The Break the Silence event at SNAFU saw rock and alternative bands and artists take to the stage over three nights at the Westgate live music venue to raise money for and awareness of men’s suicide prevention charity Andy's Man Club.
The event, organised by South Yorkshire Music Scene, was founded by SNAFU's Joe Vincent after he inspired by on his own experiences of attending AMC in Rotherham.
Head of operations Meg Corker said: “The original idea came about from team member Joe because Andy's Man Club was such an incredible source of support.
“He's also in a band himself and so came to the team at SNAFU and venue manager Ben (Roberts) with the idea and we started planning it as part of South Yorkshire Music Scene which is a community hub for bands and musicians.
“We knew SNAFU would be perfect to host it as it's a really popular alternative music club and a real fan favourite.
“We had a lot of interest and bands from the local scene as well as further out joined us on stage across the three nights – it was a fantastic event..
“It had a genuine personal connection with Joe but a lot of musicians and artists struggle with their mental health so it was a festival with such an important message about talking about mental health and to support this club and what it does for local men.”
AMC meets every Monday night, apart from Bank Holidays, and in Rotherham the clubs are held at Swinton Civic, AESSEAL New York Stadium, Tesco Drummond Street Community Space, Kiveton Park old colliery offices, SNA Europe Bramley, Conisbrough Library and Goldthorpe Library.
Facilitator Les Elvin said: “This was such a great event to get our message out there that it is okay to talk and the donation of £811.56 raised is marvellous.”
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Added Meg: “We are now planning Break the Silence 2027 and next year we want to do it bigger and better.
“Bands and artists can apply via the South Yorkshire Music Scene Facebook page - whether you're an acoustic solo artist or a face-melting heavy metal band, we want to hear from you.
“We'd also love to hear from any businesses who might want to support this case by sponsoring the event or helping in non-monetary ways.”