About Applause for thought
Applause for Thought, which was launched on 3rd February 2019, is a distinguished triple award-winning community interest company devoted to significantly enhancing mental health support and education within the arts and entertainment industry. We proudly offer a variety of services that include tailored support, informative talks, engaging workshops, accredited mental health training and bespoke consultancy services. Our overarching mission is to empower both individuals and organisations to prioritise mental well-being, thereby fostering a healthier, more resilient, and supportive creative community for everyone involved.
We work proactively, preventatively and passionately to change both organisational and wider industry culture.
Our Mission and Ethos
The AFT mantra is ‘Education Equals Prevention’ as we believe that if we can empower individuals and organisations with the awareness, knowledge and tools surrounding mental health and make this information and support more accessible and affordable, we can not only help break the mental health stigma, but we can also help prevent more serious mental health concerns from developing and contribute to cultural change that will make the arts a healthier and more inclusive industry to be a part of.
Our Founder
Hello. I wanted to take a moment to engage with you reading this human to human. Landing on a page of information or support can sometimes feel like the light at the end of a tunnel. But it can also feel overwhelming and daunting. All those thoughts and feelings are valid. So, if you’ve landed here and are reading this right now, I see and appreciate you.
Applause for thought is a community that has grown and evolved from my lived experience as a creative who also has a dual mental health disorder diagnosis who didn’t know where to turn to. At AFT we appreciate individuals are indeed that, individual. This is why we aim to create safe, empowering and empathetic spaces for all within the arts, whether that be through; our links to 121 support, at one of our talks or workshops, during our accredited mental health training courses, or when we work with organisations.
We strongly believe that real change within the arts community can only come if we work together proactively; bottom up and top down. Our Mental Health is forever changing and being tested, or conversely nurtured at different points in our life, just like our physical health. Therefore, our aim is to facilitate as many accessible opportunities as possible for people to be able to develop their own unique tools and coping mechanisms as they navigate our industry, as well as working on preventative and proactive blueprints with organisations that we hope will change both organisational and wider industry culture.