Two of Bedford’s Tattoo studios, Electric Gypsy and Black Wolf’s House of Ink will tomorrow (5 April) be taking part in the international Semicolon Tattoo Campaign, organised by the Suicide Awareness and Prevention Team (SAP).
The campaign currently has over 70 studios involved, with the latest support coming from studios in both Australia and Thailand.
The symbol of the semicolon sends a message of affirmation and solidarity against suicide, depression, addiction, and other mental health issues.
This symbolic campaign by SAP UK allows people to acknowledge and endorse the importance of mental health by physically displaying the semi-colon, a punctuation mark that allows the continuation of a sentence.
Hannah Brown from, An Ear to Hear, got her first tattoo as part of the campaign, incorporating the semicolon into a butterfly design, she said: “Having gone through my own personal mental illness, and still going through it, it’s really poignant actually to get something that recognises that.”
Anyone going along to tattoo studios taking part in the campaign will be able to get a semicolon tattoo for £10.
The campaign is designed to raise awareness of mental health and suicide prevention but the tattoo parlours can also donate some of the proceeds to charities who work in those areas if they wish.
Electric Gypsy says they will make a donation to the Samaritans and Black Wolf’s House of Ink say they’ll make a donation to mental health charity.
If a tattoo seems too much of a commitment then some studios are offering piercings and nail designs as an alternative.
Louise Treverton- Black, team member of SAP UK said: “The semicolon tattoo has become a statement of solidarity and unification. It seeks to break down the stigma, ignorance and disregard that commonly surrounds mental health problems.
“Many don’t see it (a tattoo) as an extreme commitment. Most getting a tattoo already have them.”
SAP work to break the silence around suicide and tries to encourage anyone who is struggling to reach out for support and guidance.
Founded by Danielle Shaw after the death of her own Step Father, the organisation relies on volunteers to donate their time to their personal messaging service.
For more information head to the group’s Facebook page.
