Posted: Thursday 22 September 2011
Stephen Fry officially took up his new role as President of leading mental health charity Mind at a gala dinner held last night (Wednesday 21 September) at London’s Imperial War museum.
The dinner, which Fry co-hosted with his predecessor Lord Melvyn Bragg, was held to launch a new, world-class art exhibition that will raise funds for the charity.
Stephen Fry has long been an advocate for mental health issues, producing a documentary about his experience of bipolar disorder in 2006 and fronting Mind’s anti-stigma campaign Time to Change. Addressing the audience last night, he said:
I am honoured and delighted to become the new President of Mind. The mind, like the body, is prone to disease or disorder.
We must end the stigma of mental health problems.
The mental health sector is the most amazing place to work at the moment and it is a privilege to follow in the footsteps of Lord Melvyn Bragg. I can only hope to live up to the standard that he has set in his fifteen successful years at the helm.
Stephen and Lord Bragg were joined by fellow Mind supporters TV presenter Gail Porter and stylist Grace Woodward, comedian Olivia Lee, Lady Victoria Hervey, model Suki Waterhouse, and Neil and Christine Hamilton.
The dinner, which was organised with Oxford University's Aloysius Society, took place following the opening night of Mindful, a new exhibition held in the cavernous Old Vic Tunnels beneath Waterloo station. Curated by Mind Ambassador Stuart Semple, Mindful features works from leading figures in contemporary art including Jake and Dinos Chapman, Tracey Emin, Sebastian Horsely, Sarah Lucas and Mat Collishaw.
Running until September 27 with free entry, the exhibition encourages people to question their own views on, and associations with, mental illness, while helping to break down the stigma and discrimination so often faced by the one in four people who will experience a mental health problem in any year. Proceeds from sales of the work will start a new fund for local Minds to provide creative therapies, such as art therapy, across England and Wales.
** ENDS **
Images from the night and of the exhibition available through Barcroft Media, Famous Faces, Flynet Pictures, Alpha Press and Piqtured.