{"id":585440,"date":"2025-11-21T21:08:24","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T21:08:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/585440\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T21:08:24","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T21:08:24","slug":"creativity-celebrated-at-bramleys-international-mens-day-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/585440\/","title":{"rendered":"Creativity celebrated at Bramley’s International Men’s Day event"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Helen Fay<\/strong><\/p>\n

Broadlea Community Centre played host to an International Men\u2019s Day celebration on Monday. <\/p>\n

The event, organised by BARCA, featured a men\u2019s digital arts exhibition, food, poetry and live music performed by the Being You Leeds men\u2019s songwriting group.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The free event, which was open to the public, showcased the creativity of local men who attend groups not only to learn new skills but also to socialise. The groups aim to boost mental well-being, reduce isolation and tackle mental health discrimination and stigma.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Being You Leeds songwriting group kicked off the proceedings with a performance of classic songs including Sunny Afternoon and Sweet Caroline. Next up was spoken word performance poet Chris Singleton. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Chris read his own original poetry dealing with themes of men\u2019s mental health\u00a0and important men in his life, including his father. Chris\u2019s poetry was both touching and humorous and enjoyed by the audience.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chris is also a playwright and artistic director of Brave Words CIC. Chris told WLD: \u201cBrave Words are a theatre company, based in Leeds. We\u2019re a not for profit, so we really don\u2019t make any profit on what we do. We work in quite a lot of communities at the minute, including disadvantaged communities for various reasons.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brave Words are currently touring with Chris\u2019s play \u2018Mutton\u2019, which started it\u2019s run at Leeds Central Library on 13 November and ends on 29th November at Rowland Road WMC in Beeston. Tonight (21 November) the play is on at Interplay Theatre in Armley, a sold out show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Chris added \u201cWe\u2019re looking to do more work with BARCA and establish a regular group here in the centre (Broadlea Community Centre) which is most likely going to be creative writing and poetry. Jonathan Parker from BARCA asked if I\u2019d come down and do some of my poetry today for International Men\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s super important that men are empowered to talk about mental health and I\u2019m very fortunate in that I\u2019ve got a really strong group of male friends who can talk about that stuff with me. I know a lot of men don\u2019t have that, so I wanted to share a little bit about it in the poetry today as well as talking about key men in my life, including my dad.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

After Chris had read his poetry, the Being You Leeds band returned, led by Jonathan Parker, Men\u2019s Health Community Engagement\u00a0<\/p>\n

Worker with BARCA. For their second set, the group played five original songs, two by bassist and harmonica player John Buttery (Thousands of Stars & Long Long Way From Home); two by guitarist Mark Harper (Fake News Blues & The River); and Here I\u2019m Staying by Terry Cannings. The original music was well received by the audience and the event ended on a high note.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sponsored content<\/p>\n

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