A mental wellbeing charity has called for people to join its annual Midnight Walk through the streets of London as the summer solstice approaches.
The walk, organised by CoolTan Arts, sets off from outside the Tate Modern at midnight on Saturday, wends through Southwark and finishes at the Maudsley Hospital about four hours later, in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Walkers will learn about local history and discover facts from walk leaders Ari Henry and Michelle Baharier, about familiar landmarks linked to mental health and physical wellbeing, such as how Charlie Chaplin's mother was sent to an asylum for being a single parent.
CoolTan Arts encourages people to bring along hot drinks and food to eat along the way, although there is a tea break at the half-way point.
There is no minimum or maximum number of people for the free walk, which is a night time version of CoolTan Arts' Largactyl Shuffle, held on the third Saturday of every month.
The daylight walk is named after an anti-psychotic drug previously used to treat mental illness, which causes a characteristic shambolic gait, and takes walkers on a guided cultural tour of the borough with the aim to de-stigmatise mental health problems.
Ms Baharier said: "Years ago, people were locked away in psychiatric hospitals, and Southwark has a rich mental health history which we uncover on the walk."
Kathrin Kirrmann, who started working for CoolTan Arts after attending the 2008 walk, said: "I heard of CoolTan Arts through friends and saw the Midnight Walk online.
"I thought it would be quite interesting to join this walk, as I had never experienced a nocturnal stroll through Southwark. It was a fantastic experience to discover Southwark by night, the walk leaders and people I met were really interesting."
The walk is part of Camberwell Arts Festival, and an accompanying film will be shown at noon in the Institute of Psychiatry on June 24.
CoolTan Arts aims to inspire people's mental wellbeing and creative participation by producing quality art. The charity is run by and for those with mental distress. For more information visit www.cooltanarts.org.uk.
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