Music is universal, it transcends language, it helps us laugh, cry, dance or relax. For all these reasons and more music has been important to me since my early teens. It has provided an outlet, a focus and assisted in rationalising the world in which I live and my place within it and continues to contribute positively to my quality of life every single day.

Mental health and wellbeing are crucial to us all, as individuals and as a society. At some point we all require help, especially as we grow into adulthood. The pressures of social conventions, dealing with expectations, how to behave (or not behave), the environment, self-esteem, identity, bullying, idolisation, gender, appearance; and through all this external pressure, remain sane while undergoing a unique physical transformation. Every generation has a variation on this experience, but it has never been so focussed and inescapable than when delivered via social media. No surprise there is a huge increase in the number of children and young people attempting suicide (let alone the increase in adults). There is much evidence to support that providing assistance during childhood and adolescence can dramatically reduce the likelihood of poor mental health manifesting in adulthood and mitigate many of the social and medical issues which surround it.

A 2009 US study by SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) found that SUD (Substance Use Disorders) interventions have a monetary benefit-to-cost ratio of 7:1, meaning that for every $1 spent on treatment, the surrounding community saves $7 in medical and crime-related costs.

So it feels apt to use the platform of social media to offer a voice of support to those invested in helping: "YoungMinds (https://youngminds.org.uk), the UK's leading charity championing the wellbeing and mental health of children and young people. Driven by their experience, YoungMinds creates change so that children and young people can cope with life's adversities, find help when needed and succeed in life."

So for my contribution, I am going to spend an hour a day for 26 days and compose 26 songs in support of YoungMinds. All videos will be uploaded onto Youtube and posted on Instagram and Facebook and include this information. I will also put all songs written onto https://zyklen.bandcamp.com as "pay what you want", with any money raised from sales going to YoungMinds for as long as contributions are received. All funds received from any other sales of my music will also go to YoungMinds for the 26 days of the challenge.

Or if you'd prefer to pledge directly you can do it here.