A Chance for Happiness

Against all odds, against all handicaps, against the chamber of horrors we call history, man has continued to dream and to depict its opposite. That is what we have to do. We do not escape into philosophy, psychology, and art – we go there to restore our shattered selves into whole ones. —Anaïs Nin

Beacon | The Power of One • A Chance for Happiness
London Mental Health Week October 3-10, 2023

Sometimes, until it’s at your front door, you don’t think about it enough. Channel 5 News www.facebook.com/C5News/videos/1825120120845791 Every 15 Minutes, someone dies by suicide in the United States, every 40 seconds worldwide, with suicide attempts being even more frequent, and every 16 minutes someone is left behind, asking ‘why?’ Why are so many people losing faith in life at a time when more of us are doing better than ever before? It’s a question most of us would rather continue to avoid.

Following in the footsteps of the last decades’ successful international initiatives regarding cancer and HIV/AIDS, our main aim is to encourage an up to date discussion about the worldwide phenomenon of increasing suicide – not just on the margins, but at the center of society, where it belongs. Because as soon as we start to talk about things openly, we’ll find better solutions than what we’ve had so far.

A Chance for Happiness Foundation has been a member of World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) since 2018 and has organized annual charity events benefitting Mental Health in Velden am Wörthersee, Austria 2017, Vienna, Austria 2018, Paris, France 2019, Monaco 2020 and – following the global Covid break – at Laxenburg Castle near Vienna, Austria 2022.

This year, A Chance for Happiness London Mental Health Week 2023 enjoys the support of Honorary Patrons The Lord-Lieutenant Of Greater London, Sir Kenneth Olisa OBE*, and Sir Andrew Gregory KBE CB DL, Chief Executive of SSAFA the Armed Forces charity, as well as Honorary Ambassadors Major (Retd) Sally Orange MBE, National Army Cadet Ambassador, Adventure Athlete, Multiple World Record Holder and Award Winning Mental Health Campaigner, and Thomas Fox MRSPH, Director of Thoughtify Ltd, creating mentally healthy workplaces by providing businesses with internationally recognized guidance and training, including Facebook, Sky Broadcasting, Condé Nast, Citrix, and NHS England.

* The Greater London Lieutenancy supports the Monarch and the Royal Family in Greater London and is also a bridge-builder, connecting individuals, organizations and social networks to enhance Londoners’ sense of belonging and therefore increase social inclusion within the capital. www.greaterlondonlieutenancy.com | www.greaterlondonlieutenancy.com/about-us/our-people/lord-lieutenant

We are also supported by The OLLIE Foundation, dedicated to delivering suicide awareness, intervention and prevention training, Baton Of Hope UK, the UK’s biggest ever suicide awareness and prevention initiative, touring the UK in the summer of 2023 (UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak video message), The Jordan Legacy CIC, whose mission is to move towards a #ZeroSuicideSociety, one that is both willing and able to do all it can to prevent all preventable suicides, Olly’s Future young suicide prevention charity, founded in loving memory of Oliver Hare to prevent other lives from being lost to suicide, Consortium for the Prevention of Suicide, a network of organizations in the public and private sector to prevent suicide, and Thoughtify Ltd, creating mentally healthy workplaces by providing businesses with internationally recognized guidance and training, including Facebook, Sky Broadcasting, Condé Nast, Citrix, and NHS England.

Calendar of events

(subject to change)

Online

In cooperation with our amazing, ever make-dreams-a-reality Co-organizer Debi Roberts MA Ed of The OLLIE Foundation, the entire week’s program is brimming with online presentations, workshops and seminars that can be accessed from around the world.

Access the complete online program here.

Tuesday October 3
12:00–2:00 pm Steve Phillip‘s of The Jordan Legacy CIC online keynote A Better Chance for Happiness and Hope for Life and subsequent panel discussion Doing Something Different – The Zero Suicide Society Transformation Program presented by Paul Vittles. Register for the live audio LinkedIn event here. https://lnkd.in/ehTrehDk

The amazing panel line-up includes Lara Kynvin, an active suicide prevention advocate, who recently helped organise “Let’s get talking about Suicide”, Portsmouth’s first suicide awareness event • Jess Parker, the former Suicide Prevention Manager for West Yorkshire Suicide Prevention Partnership and now Associate Director for Healthy Communities with Bradford district and Craven • Jeremy O’Dwyer, a lived experience speaker and trainer in suicide and mental health awareness, who is committed to improving mental health awareness and reducing stigma through sharing personal life experiences • Jo Kent Founder and Director of Bloom Training and Consultancy and former Suicide Prevention Lead for Humber Coast and Vale Health & Care Partnership • Douglas Cave, whose daughter Stephanie died unexpectedly in a mental health hospital in 2016. He is a co-founder of The LEARN Network and a passionate advocate for the use of Lived Experience to shape learning that can improve policies, systems and practice, and organizations as a whole • Lee Fryatt, a former police inspector, whose 19 year old son, Daniel, died by suicide shortly after starting his first term at university in September 2018. Lee is a training consultant with Suicide Bereavement UK and an Associate Lecturer in Professional Policing. Like Doug Cave, Lee is also a member of the LEARN Network. He says: The continued lack of investment in Mental Health is laid bare by those who know. The national strategy lacks ambition and more importantly new funding. A suicide prevention act would place a legal obligation on any government to invest in preventing one of societies major killers. If you believe it must change, please support this petition. https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/640961

A Chance for Happiness is an official The Jordan Legacy CIC Superhero Partner and you can be, too. Look here. https://thejordanlegacy.com/supporting-us

In person events

Beacon | The Power of One London Charity Art Exhibition
Indra Studios Hackney Wick, 2 Casings Way, Fish Island, London E3 2TH
Tuesday October 3
7:00–10:00 pm Opening Reception

Wednesday October 4
Open from 2:00–9:00 pm
2:00 pm Music and live painting
5:30 pm Bruce Rimell Poetry Reading – Nine Nights Awake
7:00 pm Liba Waring Stambollion Artist Round Table Unlocking the Muse: Exploring the Essence of Creativity

Thursday October 5
Open from 2:00–9:00 pm
3:30 pm Julia Pandit Bodypainting
5:30 pm Orryelle Defenestrate-Bascule The Bliss of New Tongues and Eyes performance with live music
7:00 pm Liba Waring Stambollion Mythological Remembrance: Exploring and honoring Pre-Abrahamic Goddesses of the Near East

Friday October 6
Open from 2:00–9:00 pm
5:30 pm Emma Watkinson Myth, Magic and Archetypal Adventures in Art
7:00 pm Music and live painting

St Paul’s (The Actors’) Church Covent Garden, Bedford St, London WC2E 9ED
Thursday, October 5
2:00–8:00 pm Film Screenings and Open Discussions
Get your free ticket through Eventbrite here.

St Paul’s (The Actors’) Church Covent Garden, Bedford St, London WC2E 9ED
Saturday, October 7
11:00–3:00 pm A Day of Joy with music, dance and outdoor performances
12:00–2:00 pm Beacon | The Power of One London Charity Art Exhibition
Get your free ticket through Eventbrite here.

Westminster Chapel, Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6BS
Tuesday, October 10
6:00–7:00 pm Closing reception Beacon | The Power of One London Charity Art Exhibition
7:00–9:30 pm Main session Trauma (Greek) means wound • I have a wound at historic Westminster Chapel, where there will also be an announcement of historic importance: The founding of a global organization, much like the Red Cross, yet not only providing physical but MENTAL HEALTH FIRST AID to everyone in crisis.
Get your free ticket through Eventbrite here.

This information is continually updated. Check back regularly.

Contact and further info:
Harald Walter Azmann
Email office(at)topcontext.com
Facebook www.facebook.com/einechancezumglueck
LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/haraldwalterazmann

Because every day is A Chance for Happiness
PayPal www.paypal.me/achanceforhappiness
GoFundMe London 2023 www.gofundme.com/f/achanceforhappinesslondon2023
Regular charity art exhibitions and auctions at www.yumpu.com/user/achanceforhappiness
Coming to screens around the world www.achanceforhappiness.museum
Member of World Federation for Mental Health www.wfmh.global

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