Category: Stories

I made this film to encourage everyone to reach out to friends and family. Its been a tough year of course … so many worries for us all. I get that … but it’s important that we don’t forget our friends and family.

Its weird … i have noticed some of my friends who use to post lots on socials media don’t seem to post as much, Or maybe i’m not seeing those posts as much as i use to … and … well i find myself forgetting to check in sometimes. Forgetting to send that short little message to say ‘hows it going, not seen you in ages.’

Im sure we all say to ourselves I’ll do that tomorrow. Im trying hard to be one of those ‘let me do that today.’ people. Its not easy i know … but it feels good to get those nagging things done.

And lets be clear here … It takes seconds to send a message … literally seconds … but it can make a tough day a little less tough. I know how i feel when i get a message from a friend I’ve not heard from in a while. Makes me me feel wanted and appreciated … being reminded I’m still part of that social circle.

So I encourage everyone to have a think about one person they havent seen in a while … I bet they are feeling the same way you are. Delighted that someone took time out of their day to reached out.

It’s great to spend time in nature … enjoying the sights and sounds of wildlife, but sometimes it can be a little expensive. So we went looking for a cheap way to enjoy nature in your own back yard.

Bird feeder … cheap (sorry about the pun) easy and maintenance free. We got ours from Wilko … feeder was £1.25 and the food was £1.00, And the best bit is … birds actually like it.

To be honest we have tried bird food before and well we didn’t have much success. With the ‘fat balls’ … horrible phrase i know. its been a breeze.

All kinds of birds … some probably too big for the feeder … no idea how they manage. But its fun to watch them try.

Hello my name is Kevin… I suffer with a mental illness… please don’t be scared of me I’m not crazy I’m just a little off balance sometimes… if I go quiet don’t worry I’m not going to jump, If I’m manic then just laugh at my jokes.

My poor folks where so worried about me the other day and my mum was scared that I was going to go the way of Robin Williams because she said I was manic and up and down but I use my #groundingtechniques and I take a deep breath before I leave the house and try my hardest to go forward.

I promise I’ll never lash out or get physical I just take a step back and collect my thoughts – I sometimes take a day or so to reply or a few hours but please don’t take this as me being a rude it’s because I care about my response and i also have to slow down my brain and my eyes – this isn’t fun not one F**king bit and most of this is brought upon by my own doings.

But I’m also learning and I’m getting better – I promise… Positive mental health is the answer… But I also wouldn’t half mind a farm somewhere out there I think that’s be nice 😃
If you didn’t think I was mental already then you’ll definitely think it now.

Every day before I leave my room I ground using the 5 rules of and it works – well most of the time l, sometimes my brain is going too fast I feel like a child and not a 40 year old man (well ManBoi ha!)

5 things you can see, around you, it can be literally anything you can see.

4 things you can touch, feeling the ground beneath your feet is a good one to start with.

3 things you can hear, id love to say bird somg but more often than not its next doors washing machine

2 things you can smell, the shampoo you use, or the hand sanitiser you have.

1 thing you can taste, what taste is in your mouth right now?

There are no right answers to any of this of course and there are lots of different grounding techniques you can try. Found a few here that might help Click link

You can follow my journey on my instagram Kevin Argent

It can be tough sometimes to keep striving for your goals, even simply things can feel daunting. Don’t loose heart, looking at solutions rather than the problem is a great way to keep moving, even if sometime it feels like its going sidewise.

It can be frustrating when what we think will happen and what actually happens are different. This happened to us a few weeks ago.

We had the idea to film squirrels in Kington upon Thames, with a tiny shopping trolley we had. This is how we imagined it …

And the reality of turning up with food in a beautiful church yard.

Who knew that pigeons bossed around squirrels and enjoyed eating peanuts? But we tried, failed, and tried again. Half a bag of peanuts later it finally happened. So excited that it had happened, and proud that we had stuck at it. would have been easy to give up but we didn’t.

Of course we know that feeding squirrels isn’t actually that important, But challenges we all face each day are. So keep trying, keep throwing your own peanuts around until you make a break through. It can take time and be frustrating but it’s well worth it in the end.

When I engage in art making I relax. I enter my happy place where I can stay for hours without realising the time passing. You can try to. You do not need to have any artistic talent to benefit from creative activities.

The process of making is enough to offer some healing and tranquillity. You do not need to even create any masterpiece or anything at all, you can just simply play with patterns, colours or just doodle.

You can also keep it to yourself, you do not need to show it to the world. I personally have an art journal, a sketchbook, where I just try things out, doodle, make a note of a motivational quote and decorate a page with it and treat it as a form of diary which I engage with at least for 10-15 min. a day. You can have a diary like that too.

I have also participated in making a short video about my art with fellow champions from Time to Change Greenwich Hub, to show how art may start a meaningful conversation about mental health.

The film is now available on YouTube

My name is Dorota Chioma, and I am a self-taught artist based in London, who explores the varying states concerning the mind and mental health. I am also an active Time to Change Champion, who created the Venusian Guide to Kingston – Mental Health Zine as a project for TTC Kingston Hub. 

I have created this publication as I believe that amazing stories of advocacy about mental health and attempts to break the stigma around this topic, need to be shared. 

There is so much happening across the U.K. on this particular battle field and there are amazing people, heroes, who are making a change for better.

There is so much bad news around us which overshadow the aspects of kindness, resilience in fighting against all odds, bravery in sharing own stories of hardship in order to help others feel that they are not alone. Particularly in the resent, challenging circumstances of the pandemic and lockdown, which took and still take its toll on our mental well-being, I wanted to explore and showcase some of amazing services which are still available in one way or the other.

This publication explores the town of Kingston from many different perspectives and brings to light some amazing people and services who support mental health in their community. 

It has been a big project and I would not be able to pull it together without a collective effort of many wonderful people, especially in such a tight time scale in which it had to be completed. 

Although Zine exceeded my expectations in terms of the work involved, it has been an absolute pleasure writing and I will forever cherish meeting people who do so much for others. 

This project has brought back my faith in humanity.

Click here to download Time to Change Kingston Zine

2020 has been a tough year for all of us. It’s ok to struggle and feel lonely, we all do sometimes.

Together we can make a difference. Reach out to the people in your life, so we all feel appreciated this Christmas. If you are finding it tough and want to speak to someone, you can find loads of free help on our help page

Are you struggling to write? Been struck with writer’s block and don’t know how to escape? Try out these few writing tips the RiPPLE team have thought up and see the difference to your writing.

Change your environment

Having a set place where you write can be beneficial, but sometimes it can feel pressurising to write on your laptop in a set place.

Changing your environment can help motivate and inspire you, so you could potentially try moving rooms where you live. Or perhaps you can try writing on something other than your laptop, such as on your phone or in a notebook.

Change the font you’re writing in

I’ve certainly noticed when I write in a Microsoft Word document and I copy and paste the document into WordPress, which uses a set font, I notice the mistakes I would’ve missed otherwise.

Using the same font all the time means you’re more likely to just skip over any errors because you’ve adjusted to the font.

Write when you can

Finding the time to write can seem impossible with everyday responsibilities, but even if you only write 100 words or for ten minutes a day, that’s still more words than you started with.
Writing is a marathon, not a sprint, so take as long as you need to write it. So long as you’re putting down words, what does it matter how long it takes?

Eliminate distractions

It’s so easy to just pop onto YouTube, convincing yourself it’ll only be for five minutes, but then three hours have passed and you don’t know how or where the time went.

If you are going to sit down and write, make sure you turn your phone onto ‘do not disturb mode’ or install an extension on your browser to temporarily block the internet. Make sure you’re also not likely to be distracted by loved ones or impromptu meetings or anything else

Share your work with someone else

It’s easy to miss your own mistakes or think you’re making perfect sense, but sometimes a fresh pair of eyes can help. They can point out where you could be clearer or where you’ve made some grammatical errors.

Sharing with someone else can be useful too if you’re stuck because they can offer you ideas for where to go next or give you suggestions for how to change a particular scene if it’s not working properly.

Take a day off

We all need to take a step back and do something else from time to time. Whether it’s watching a TV show, meeting up with friends or exploring somewhere new, it can give you a much-needed break. It might even inspire you when you come back to it.

RiPPLE is a Kingston University anthology, run by Creative Writing and Publishing MA students. You can find us on Twitter Facebook and Instagram