Gather Round Presents 11: Tickets Live
Blue Health – Restoring Mind, Body + Imagination
SURF’S UP! We’re setting sail for a very special, off-site, location for this edition of Gather Round Presents. Come and join us on Wednesday 23rd September for our most adventurous event to date as we land at the best surf spot in Bristol… The Wave.
We’ve invited seven of the industry’s biggest voices to dive head first into the topic of Blue Health, specifically how being in the water impacts your creativity, mental health and general wellbeing. We’ll be hearing from film directors, communications specialists, surfers, artists and the person that built The Wave from an idea into reality.
So without further ado, check out our panel below and find out how to be the first to get your hands on tickets.
Nick Hounsfield
Nick Hounsfield is the man who brought a ‘slice of the ocean’ inland to a field in Bristol.
As the Founder of The Wave, he was inspired to create a space that brings the physical and mental health benefits of water, waves and nature to people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities – from a child stepping on a board for the first time, to a professional training for the Olympics. The project was 10 years in the making and Nick’s journey from osteopath with £500 and a vision, to making it a £35million reality is one of resilience, perseverance and the importance of community building.
In 2020 Nick suffered a stroke at the age of 46. He had been a passionate blue health advocate for years, but this experience and his road to recovery – much of it in the water – cemented his belief in the power of water environments to heal. He now works to make blue spaces core to new developments, and embed stronger connections to water for the benefit of both people and planet, via his latest venture, One Blue World.
Nick is also Co-author of the recently published Do Blue: Water, waves and wellbeing with Abby Richardson. The book explores the science behind why water is so profoundly good for us, tells the tales of lives transformed by it, looks at ways we can all better connect with blue spaces in out day today lives and discusses the reciprocal link between planetary and human health. Stick around on the night for our famous raffle to get your hands on a copy!
Aggie Nyagari-Salt
Aggie is a Kenyan Film and TV director living in Bristol who brings her unique perspective and diversity of her life experiences directly into her work.
Passionate about telling compelling, thought provoking stories inspired by and based on everyday interactions, Aggie uses the power of storytelling through film to try and make sense of the world around us, and how Blue Health goes far beyond the sea. Acting as Co-Producer and also featuring directly in the film as a contributor, Aggie lends her creative vision and personal connections to the water to the breakout documentary Rave on for the Avon – a feature-length documentary film that follows campaigners and river lovers across a year and a half, charting their highs, their lows, their love and loss. The film features a bunch of eclectic characters including, Lindsey a mermaid who is the first to cross the Bristol Channel towing a giant poo, Meg who marries the river and the Conham Bathing group, who have taken testing the river water into their own hands.
We can’t wait to hear from you Aggie!
Rebecca Wetten
For regulars of Gather Round Presents, you know we love to have our members on our panels, so we’re excited to welcome the lovely Rebecca Wetten to this line up of speakers.
From experiencing bullying as a young teen by her former swimming coach, to becoming an internationally recognised swimmer, Rebecca knows a thing or two about the power of water. Rebecca left us at Brunswick Square last year to focus on her newest focus, Catch, the world’s #1 rated swim coaching and training app. On top of this she also holds down a Director’s seat at Reclaim the Sea – helping run trauma-informed swim and surf programmes for people with refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds.
Hannah Millbank
Hannah Millbank heads up the communications team at WWT, the wetland charity. WWT are on a mission to restore wetlands and unlock their power, for people, for planet and for wildlife. Research has shown that just ten minutes near blue space makes us feel good, and yet just 37% of people in England can access blue spaces within a 15-minute walk of the places they live.
Hannah’s job is to get more people to understand wetlands – the unique places where water meets land – and value their incredible mood-boosting, water-purifying, nature-bursting, carbon-storing, flood-busting superpowers! How does she do it you ask? Through creativity, imagination and a lot of fun. We can’t wait to get stuck in.
Ben McCluskey
Joining Hannah is another former Gather Round member, this time from team Enviral down in Southville. Ben heads up Tanuki with partner Louis, a communications agency that helps organisations talk about things like blue health at street level – communicating with communities, not at them. The thinking behind it is simple: information alone doesn’t change what people do, but knowing what your neighbours are up to just might.
We’ll be hearing more from Ben about Tanuki’s partnership with WWT and how they’re working together to get Bristol recognised as the UK’s first Wetland City!
Rita Lazaro
What happens to us when we stand beside water, or stop in front of a piece of original art? The mind slows down, our mood shifts and stress subsides. Ideas begin to flow again.
We’re very excited to be joined by artist and curator Rita Lazaro as she explores the link between blue health and creativity. Drawing on research alongside her exhibition One Drop, Infinite Ripples. Rita will be taking a deeper look into whether water and art may support us in similar ways, and what happens when access to either one disappears.
In a life increasingly lived through screens, Rita is an advocate for places and experiences that aren’t asking us to click, scroll or perform. Whether that’s sat by a riverbank, losing yourself in an art gallery or catching big waves on the coast. There are multiple ways to help us stay afloat and face life head on.
Ben Powis
And last, but by no means least, Ben Powis will be joining us this September.
Ben is a lifelong surfer and water sports enthusiast. He’s the CEO of Surfing England, the National Governing Body for surfing, who are on a mission to make life better through surfing. Blue health and our connection to the ocean is an underpinning theme through the NGB’s work, and in Ben’s presentation he’ll unravel the intertwined nature of blue health and surfing. He’ll explore some of the progress we’ve made in recognising and sharing the benefits, but also how some segments of our society are struggling to engage, and what we can do to share the joy of wave riding and the blue health benefits it brings.
We’re very excited about this one.
Gather Round Presents is a not for profit event series, a space to bring the South West creative community together. Tickets will be available for a nominal fee, and you get access to all of this amazing stuff: entry to our famous raffle, a Gather Round goodie bag, a special discounted surf session at The Wave, a platter of free snacks plus, you’ll leave with rare gems of inspiration from our panel. What more could you ask for?
Want to join us? Early Bird tickets are NOW LIVE.
