WHAT IS LiVETALK?

LiVETALK was born out of the Lock Downs. Stepping Stone Theatre did not have any venues to perform their show so Kate and Bill had to think hard as to what to do as there were people in their groups who needed support and a creative outlet to share their words. Even more so now than ever. Bill and Kate took a broadcast show online and used the Facebook Live platform to share the Live broadcast. It is  there to help with people who maybe feeling lonely or isolated or maybe struggling with their mental health. We have a chat platform where people join in with the topic of the day. The topic can be anything from depression, anxiety, good days, bad days right through to complementary therapies from diet, meditation and relaxation methods. There is also a dedicated Facebook Group where peer support continues after LiVETALK has ended for the day. Again it is a safe non-judgemental environment where people come and share distractions with each other in  a stigma fee way.

"There's no judgement, no correction or censure,  and it reflects what the people forming our community have experienced and are still experiencing, and their unique perspective and perception have been respected and brought to light, irrespective of their weight or importance. So, Kate and Bill, hats off for bringing our community together by showing off people's stories we would have never heard of"  Counsellor Baptiste Velan raph

WHAT PEOPLE GET FROM LiVETALK

"I’m not a social bean, neither am I one for groups, or people overall, that’s my mental health, and what I choose. But, I have interest in theatre things, and every so often I had seen on social media, Stepping Stone theatre live flag up, over a few years. One day, I decided to turn on the live hour, and sit in the background, say nothing and listen, and watch how it played out. I did this quite a few times. What I found was Bill and Kate, were consistent in their live shows, always there when they said they would be there, always allowing people to ‘just be’ who they were, always flagging up relevant mental health conversations, that allowed people to interact and discuss them.  After a while I decided to speak in there also, sometimes too much, sometimes not much, just however much I wanted to on the day. While there was opportunity for others to join forums etc, there was no insistence anyone did, which was refreshing as I wouldn’t want to join one. However, they did also offer writing groups, online.  I was interested in this; I wasn’t keen on being live in front of people though.  I did try it in the end, and thankfully, the group size is small, and again, no judgements, no negativity, you just do what you can do." LiVETALK Regular

 "I went on the live talk when that Lock Down happened, I used to do voluntary work but that all got stopped so the live talk was the only place for support and I got it from Kate and Bill."

Gemma