Spill the Tae - youth led mental health podcast in Derry’s Studio 2

The ‘Journal’ called into Studio 2, where they are based, to catch up with some of the young people and their leaders.

Alex Duffy is the Youth Support Worker In Charge in Studio 2 and he said, “I came in to this job just before Christmas and shortly after, we created the Youth Mental Health Forum. To begin with, we gave the young people some ideas and then they ran the rest themselves.

“These guys are the Mental Health Forum for the Ballyarnett DEA Area. The podcast is only one aspect of it and the other side is mental health awareness events like Ted Talk style events.

“Because Studio 2 is a creative arts facility, everything we do reverts back to the arts and creative media. This means the opportunity for more creative style things is more open here than it would be in another youth club. They all do fantastic work, don’t get me wrong, but we’re more based on creative arts.”

“These young people are doing absolutely fantastic and have taken to the podcast like ducks to water.”

The young people think the podcast a great experience and feel lucky that they have the opportunity to take part in the project. They feel that not many other people their age have the chance to do things like this so they are grateful that they have the chance.

Amiee-Leigh said, “This is different from other interactive groups because this group is focusing on mental health. The leaders bring in the people to interview but we chose the topic and the questions and decide ourselves how we want to do it.”

Cara added, “We do stuff like this in school or in other youth clubs but here, it’s youth led. In other places, the adults do it all and the children just listen but here, it feels like we have a voice and get to learn what we want to instead of what we are told to learn.”

Jess added, “In school, you have to be careful what you say around the teachers but when you’re here, you can ask almost anything and know you’ll get an answer and not be treated like you’re a child.”

Cara said, “Some teachers are there to do a job but Alex is here because he cares about us and he wants to help us with our problems.”

The young people feel that they are better equipped to talk about their mental health now too because of the project.

Cara said, “It’s normal to talk about mental health now because we know that everyone struggles with it at some point in their lives.

“It makes it easier on us because, people like Mammy Banter, she suffered from depression when she was younger so that makes me feel less alone. To know that someone who is successful has overcome that, it makes you feel better about it too if you’re going through it. You feel like there’s a way to come out of it then. “

Reece said, “Because of this, it has made it easier on us to talk to each other about our mental health.”

Hayden added:,“It’s easier now too because we’re all in the same room and talking about it anyway.

“People outside of the club, find it easier to talk to us now as well because we understand what they’re going through.”

So far, Mark H. Durkan, Mayor Alderman Graham Warke, Mammy Banter/ Serena Terry and Ryan McCready from the UUP have all been on the podcast, as well as Gwyneth Doherty, who was talking about anorexia and eating disorders.

Cara said, “It’s good to talk about anorexia and eating disorders because it’s quite up to date with this generation. A lot of people our age have eating disorders from seeing other people online, especially during the pandemic.

“I feel like as soon as someone says ‘eating disorder’ you automatically think of anorexia instead of something else but there are multiple types of eating disorders like binge eating and over eating. When it comes to eating disorders, it’s good to look at all sides of it.”

The podcast can be found on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Contact podcast@gscaderrycom to get involved.