The #ZeroSuicideSociety #JoinTheDots Tour - Merseyside Festival

This is a 2-day festival

As well as the big start Launch Conference at the Baths Hall in Scunthorpe on Wed 12 June, we'll have a big finish Merseyside Festival at the end of the Tour on Sat 22 June & Sun 23 June.

And it really is a big finish!

This will potentially be the biggest gathering of people with lived experience of suicide in a single location, anywhere in the world! And you can help achieve this.

The generously donated venue has a capacity for up to 5000 people! So, please get tickets for yourself, your family, friends, colleagues and anyone you know!

Tickets: A minimum donation of £20 - please give what you can and what you think this Festival is worth. Each ticket provides you with access to the 2-day (22nd-23rd June) 'Festival with Lived Experience Voices' at the Lock and Quay in Bootle, and also a couple of other iconic gatherings in Liverpool - the 'Hope Gathering in Hope Street' and a 'Mass Choir' event'

Timings over the 2-days

Saturday 12pm-8pm (finish time still to be confirmed)

Sunday 12pm - 6pm

The Festival will be held at the Lock and Quay in Bootle (capacity up to 5,000!) which has been so generously donated because they’ve been following The Jordan Legacy’s work from afar for the past 3 years and want to do all they can to support this cause (now up close!).

The venue is well known in the region, especially for the Bootle Music Festival.

On the main stage, we'll have bands, singers, choirs & musical performances across a mix of genres, including Rock, Pop, Country, Folk, R&B, Soul, Motown, traditional English choirs, gospel choirs - and no doubt everything else in our Karaoke and audience participation slots!

We'll have performance poets and comedy and, in the classic fringe festival tradition, a few surprises!

We'll have scheduled 'Lived Experience Speakers' who we know have powerful messages and 'stories' to tell, along with lots of cameo spots on the stage for those attending who want to 'Speak Their Name' for a loved one lost, tell us their 'Join the Dots Stories', let us know about how they're helping those who are struggling, or give us a 'Message of Hope'.

We have such a big space that virtually every organisation that wants a stall can have a stall! So we'll have health services, emergency services, education services, training providers, community support organisations, counselling organisations, peer support groups, support groups for just about every group or need. If you want a stall, just ask - the answer's probably 'yes'!

Joseph Roberts

Aged just 20, Joseph from Liverpool is already an award-winning performance poet and Spoken Word Artist with an incredible body of work, and some legendary videos (available on YouTube). At age 16, Joseph was showcasing his poetry at school assembly. From there, it’s been BBC Radio Merseyside, Sean’s Place, the Benjamin Zephaniah Show, and BT Sport. Sean’s Place Founder, Debbie Rogers, tells us that Joseph is “insanely talented” – we agree!

Tickets: A minimum donation of £20 - please give what you can and what you think this Festival is worth. Each ticket provides you with access to the 2-day (22nd-23rd June) 'Festival with Lived Experience Voices' at the Lock and Quay in Bootle, and also a couple of other iconic gatherings in Liverpool - the 'Hope Gathering in Hope Street' and a 'Mass Choir' event'

Patrick Mallon and Bon/DCA few years ago, Patrick Mallon decided it was time to retire from his career as a maths & physics teacher and working in the education/IT sectors, and pursue his true calling as a lead singer in a rock band! A wise decision as many people have said he’s got the best Bon Scott voice since…er, well…Bon Scott!

Patrick’s new AC/DC tribute band Bon/DC will be on our stage in Bootle. Here’s Patrick belting out the always-in-demand (even at a suicide prevention event!) ‘Highway to Hell’ with another AC/DC band he previously fronted UK/DC.

The (Sean’s Place) Choir of HopeThis Festival is taking place just around the corner from Sean’s Place, which was set up by Debbie Rogers after losing her brother Sean, to suicide. The phenomenal success of Sean’s Place has been achieved through listening to the 1000s of men they support, learning from their experiences, understanding their needs, and providing the support they need right now…and then listening some more.

Sean’s Place challenges myths such as “men don’t talk about their mental health” and “men don’t reach out for help”. Create the right environment, a safe, supportive place, where people listen and act on what they’ve heard…and men do talk, men do reach out, men flock to Sean’s Place. And now these men have come together, to sing together, to challenge stigma together, to support each other, in the recently-formed Choir of Hope.

Alfie FitzsimmonsAt the age of 8, Alfie lost his dad to suicide. He discovered there was no peer support available in his area for children, like himself, bereaved by suicide. So, at age 9, he set up Alfie’s Squad, which he discovered was the UK’s only peer support provider for children bereaved by suicide.

Now 15, Alfie has set up groups across Merseyside – with Everton in the Community and Liverpool FC Community Foundation – and Greater Manchester, to provide much-needed peer support to children bereaved by suicide, aged 6-17. He appeared ‘on the red sofa’ on BBC Breakfast on Tues 13 March and, due to the massive response around the country, is going to be setting up Alfie’s Squad Online. Read Alfie’s story here.

To view the full line up so far (more to be announced soon) .

There’ll be a mix of performing arts, poetry, comedy, sports & leisure activities on site, face-painting for the kids, etc…all in a space with stalls & displays for suicide prevention charities & service providers.

And there’ll be lots of short cameo slots for people with lived experience to get up on stage and say a few words about the person they’ve lost or coming through their own crisis, what they’re doing now to help others, and how they’re ‘joining the dots’.

Tickets: A minimum donation of £20 - please give what you can and what you think this Festival is worth. Each ticket provides you with access to the 2-day (22nd-23rd June) 'Festival with Lived Experience Voices' at the Lock and Quay in Bootle, and also a couple of other iconic gatherings in Liverpool - the 'Hope Gathering in Hope Street' and a 'Mass Choir' event'

This page will be regularly updated to provide more details and give the latest news. For even more information, .

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Lock & Quay, 2 Irlam Road, Liverpool, United Kingdom