Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival 2025 : Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival 2025
Led by the Mental Health Foundation, the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival is one of the world's leading arts events dedicated to mental health.
Led by the Mental Health Foundation, the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival is one of the world's leading arts events dedicated to mental health.
/ Families, children and young people
Every child deserves the chance to grow up healthy, happy, safe, and supported. Childhood health inequalities in Scotland are deeply unjust, but they are not inevitable. Scotland needs a bold, joined-up preventative policy approach, rooted in equity and empathy to effectively tackle these inequalities.
/ Challenging mental health inequalities
Coming together to share, collaborate, and create is a great way of building a sense of community to support the mental health of refugees and asylum seekers taking part in our projects in Scotland.
/ Influencing policies
Carola shares her experiences of her first year as a member of the Diverse Experience Advisory Panel (DEAP) in Scotland.
/ Challenging mental health inequalities
Financial strain and poverty are key drivers of poor mental health. Recent statistics published by the Scottish Government underscore our concerns about the effect of the cost-of-living crisis on people's mental health.
/ Research
As the Scottish Government prepares a new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, we have a fresh opportunity to protect our nation’s mental health and well-being in the context of these national challenges and to draft a truly whole-of-government Strategy.
/ Influencing policies
Our response to the Scottish Government’s petition on ending conversion therapy.
In 2007, the Mental Health Foundation held the first ever Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival (SMHAF). Since then, it has grown to be the largest and oldest mental health festival in the world and as such it has become a significant part of the Scottish cultural landscape.
/ Families, children and young people
This year, in partnership with NHS Health Scotland, we sponsored Scotland’s first ‘Mental Health and wellbeing’ award at YouthLink Scotland’s National Youth Work Awards 2018 to recognise the power of youth work when it comes to helping young people to stay mentally well.
Mental Health Foundation volunteer Shirley Hellyar spoke to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon about mental health discrimination and what can be done to reduce stigma around mental ill-health.