Reading Roars!

I was recently contacted by a lovely group of students about a charity sky dive that they were taking part in a little more than a month ago, on Sunday 5 April, in Bicester.  The sky dive was held in aid of a new one-day festival, Rise and Shine Festival, planned for Reading’s Kings Meadow in September this year.

To find out more about both events, I sat down with Kayleigh Fung and two of her Rise and Shine Festival partners at the Slug & Lettuce.

Listening to the students speak, I was struck by how young (early twenties), professional, committed and caring these talented organisers were.  On occasion you read about university students going on drunken rampages in our town centre.   This group was a reminder that there are young people who do very good things and make a positive difference in the community.

The WOMAD-style Rise and Shine Festival, I was informed, aims to bring together fresh local talent (such as bands and artists) in a bid to increase awareness of depression and suicide amongst young people. 

As the group explains on their website:

We aim to reduce the ‘self pity’ stigma and promote effective therapies, with an open mind to alternative therapies. The forum will be available as a social network for people to gain access to reviewed information and to discuss issues amongst themselves, or with current students in contemporary psychology. Research shows that ‘happiness is contagious and spreads through social groups like a virus’. In a time of combined economic and environmental challenge, the country is facing a period of depression, as young people, it is our goal that the community work together to prevent suffering and maintain good spirit!

The organisation was set up after Jaime Smith, Andrew McGurk and Eva Dobrayzyk very sadly took their own lives after suffering from severe depression. Both the University of Reading’s Psychology Society and Psychology department are deeply involved with the running of the running of September’s festival.

The jump the following day, I’m told, went well.  A video of the event, professionally produced, reveals a somewhat nervous-looking Kayleigh sitting in the aircraft with face daubed in paint.  In addition to the video, about 50 photos were taken.

The Rise and Shine Festival initiative is an admirable one, and great for the town.  I will be adding a Rise and Shine badge to this blog to show support (I personally don’t expect to be jumping out of planes any time soon) and intend to promote the charity as much as I can to others.