Minding Creative Minds, the first dedicated wellbeing support programme for the Irish music sector launches today, with the aim of assisting the creative community through the challenges of the Covid-19 crisis.

The launch of the first phase of Minding Creatives Minds, a free 24/7 wellbeing support programme, follows several years of planning. Open to musicians, songwriters and managers, the programme will include access to following services:

• 24/7 dedicated phone line (1800 814 244)
• Counselling service (short term intervention/ up to six sessions)
• Telephone counselling
• Secure video counselling
• Extensive web portal and app enabling live chat with a counsellor

Minding Creative Minds will also offer a series of additional services, including advice on practical, day-to-day issues that are causing anxiety or stress; legal assistance; financial assistance; consumer advice; career guidance; life coaching; and mediation for conflict resolution.

Although the programme was originally set to launch later this summer, the start date was pulled forward to June 2, in response to the devastating impact that the ongoing Covid-19 crisis is having on the music sector.

Last year, First Fortnight conducted a comprehensive survey amongst Ireland's music and creative community. 91% of respondents said that they had experienced anxiety/depression/mental ill health, while 95% said that there was a need for a dedicated mental wellbeing support programme for the community.

20,000 people in the music sector in Ireland (including Northern Ireland) are eligible to access these services. In due course, the services are expected to open up to the whole music sector – including promoters, bookers, sound and lighting engineers, festival workers, record label employees and other sector workers. There are also plans to open the programme up to the wider creative sector in Ireland – across theatre, film and visual arts.

Minding Creative Minds is the brainchild of David Reid: the co-founder and organiser of the RTÉ Choice Music Prize, and a board member and project manager with First Fortnight – a charity that challenge mental health prejudice through the arts. Reid also holds an MA in Psychotherapy.

"We are delighted to launch this critical support programme that will give musicians, songwriters and artist managers the opportunity to mind their mental wellbeing and be able to contact qualified counsellors and experts in different fields such as financial planning, legal and career matters enabling expert advice and helping to manage personal issues they might be facing," Reid says of the launch. "Working in collaboration with our partner organisations we can now provide a credible support structure for this sector. We look forward to extending this programme within the Irish music Industry and to enable this service to be available to the entire Irish Creative Community in due course."

For more information see mindingcreativeminds.ie.