Support Life

13/01/2025

This certificate has special meaning for me. I received it from the 2019 Mayor of Wolverhampton for contributing to the Su***de Prevention Strategy in Wolverhampton.

I designed and painted the 'Support Life' wolf for the Wolves in Wolves public art project in 2017 and my company RAW curated the Support Life art exhibition at the Lighthouse Media Centre on 2019.

This all has very personal meaning for me as I lost a dear friend to su***de in 2015.

Thankful and grateful
Alex

28/02/2023

How cool is this? A young person attending Real Arts Workshops Feb half term sessions last week recreated the Support Life which Alex Vann deisgned in 2017 for the Wolves In Wolves public art project!

It's still having an impact, yay!!

10/11/2022

Support Life was held at The Lighthouse Wolverhampton in November 2019. The art project was concerned with raising awareness of su***de prevention and mental health issues particularly effecting Wolverhampton residents.

The Lighthouse has been a valuable resource for the local (and national) community for decades but unfortunately it closed down last week.
However, all hope is not lost as there is a petition to re-open it.

Support LIFE, Support LIGHT, Support the LIGHTHOUSE and sign the petition! 👇👇👇👇

Save Light House Wolverhampton

10/11/2020

One year ago, our company Real Arts Workshops curated the 'Support Life' art exhibition at Light House Cinema & Cafe Bar which featured 32 amazing Wolverhampton / Black Country artists.

We've made a short 'recap' video as it seems this issue is more pertinent than ever in light of Covid 19 and its impact on individuals, communities, jobs, livelihoods & hopes for the future.

Please feel free to share and to each other.

***dePrevention

04/10/2020

Pleased to share this video of a virtual choir singing "You Shine On" a song written originally for Rich McMahon - and you can have it for some Covid 19 hope too.
Rich took his own life in 2015 and was the inspiration behind the "Support Life" Wolves in Wolves wolf sculpture and his own music featured in the performance eveing at the Support LIfe exhibition at Light House Media Centre.

Thank you to all the beautiful souls that sent in their wonderful singing videos and also British Sign Language so that Deaf people can enjoy it too. Also to 'The Dissenters' - a group of musicians that Rich put together and who are still active now.

PS - please, please watch until the very end for THAT chord and the credits with meaning and ... SHARE AWAY !

19/05/2020

This week is Mental Health Awareness week in the UK

"My Beautiful Broken Guitar" - is a modern day classic written by the late Rich McMahon - who was the inspiration for 'Support Life' su***de prevention Wolves in Wolves wolf which was the central theme of this art exhibition at Light House Cinema & Cafe Bar in November 2019.

Rich unfortunately lost his own battle with depression.

Remember to be kind to others and to be kind to yourself, here are some useful resources: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/mental-health-awareness-week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uIYk55SiHw

Original track from the forthcoming album 'Songs of Exile, Love & Dissent'. Filmed in and around Birmingham, UK including Lickey Hills with kind permission f...

03/02/2020

This is a performance of a song written by Rich McMahon - Songwriter and Performer at Support Life art exhibition on 27th November 2019.
It is performed by Alex Vann - Musician/Songwriter/Performer; Louise Kilbride and John Napier.

The song is subtitled for easy access.

was an art exhibition curated by RAW: Real Arts Workshops and Outside Centre which addressed the issue of ***dePrevention

As well as showing some high quality art work from various artists on the theme, RAW also held several free workshops which facilitated the creation of new work and provided sign posting to help and advice.

The exhibition certainly had impact - we will publish some of the comments from the feedback book and tags from the Tree Of Hope in due course.

Thanks to everyone who gave their time to perform, see the art exhibition and watch the performance including Wolverhampton Mayor Claire Darke; Paul A. Darke; Sandra Cope; Clare Wassermann, filmed by Gary O'Dowd

More about RAW:
https://www.realartsworkshops.co.uk/
More abour SIFA Fireside:
https://www.sifafireside.co.uk/

You can donate online to the Mayors charities which include su***de prevention: https://www.paypal.com/gb/fundraiser/112574636177901026/charity/3757861

24/01/2020

You can read the report about Support Life art exhibition here (LinkedIn). It's also available on the RAW Blog page: https://www.realartsworkshops.co.uk/blog--news

In November 2019, RAW curated the ‘Support Life’ art exhibition at Light House Media Centre in Wolverhampton to raise awareness of the issue of Su***de Prevention. Great work on the exhibition! It was interesting to see how each of the artists expressed the themes of the exhibition in a very dif...

15/01/2020

This is a live performance of a poem called 'Making Notes' by Brendan Hawthorne . Alex Vann - Musician/Songwriter/Performer accompanies Brendan by revealing the words of a new poem by removing strips of newspaper on a vintage style gold frame.

The piece is subtitled for easy access and was performed at the 'Support Life' Performance evening at Light House Cinema & Cafe Bar on 27th November 2019.

was an art exhibition curated by Real Arts Workshops and Outside Centre which addressed the issue of ***dePrevention

As well as showing some high quality art work from various artists on the theme, RAW also held several free workshops which facilitated the creation of new work and provided sign posting to help and advice.

The exhibition certainly had impact - we will publish some of the comments from the feedback book and tags from the Tree Of Hope in due course.

Thanks to everyone who gave their time to perform, see the art exhibition and watch the performance including Wolverhampton Mayor Claire Darke and her consort Paul A. Darke

More about Brendan Hawthorne here:
http://brendan.bravesites.com/

More about RAW:
https://www.realartsworkshops.co.uk/

You can now donate online to the Mayors charities which includes the Su***de Prevention Forum
https://www.paypal.com/gb/fundraiser/112574636177901026/charity/3757861

10/01/2020

You can 'Listen Again' to hear Alex talking about Support Life exhibition among other things on Radio WCR with Chris Allen

If you want, you can jump straight to the interview at 38'38" in the link....
http://podcast.canstream.co.uk/wcrfm/index.php?id=37790

05/01/2020

This song was performed as part of Performance Evening at Light House Cinema & Cafe Bar, Wolverhampton on 27th November 2019.

The exhibition focused on the issue of ***dePrevention and featured the work of 32 artists, mainly from Wolverhampton.

'You Shine On' is a song written by Alex Vann about his good friend and musical partner Rich McMahon - Songwriter and Performer. Rich was a popular Birmingham based singer song writer who took his own life on 18th May 2015.

Rich worked with SIFA Fireside, a Birmingham charity which supports vulnerably housed adults. A group of musicians was formed called 'The Dissenters' (named after a Rich McMahon song) and they appear here, singing with Alex.

14/12/2019

This is a live performance of a song called 'Beyond Borders' written by Rich McMahon - Songwriter and Performer and performed by Alex Vann - Musician/Songwriter/Performer; Louise Kilbride ; John Richard
with percussion provided by The Dissenters and Eileen Ward Birch

The song is subtitled for easy access and was performed at the 'Support Life' Performance evening at Light House Cinema & Cafe Bar on 27th November 2019.

was an art exhibition curated by RAW Real Arts Workshops and Outside Centre which addressed the issue of ***dePrevention - as well as showing some high quality art work from various artists on the theme, RAW also held several free workshops which facilitated the creation of new work and provided sign posting to help and advice.

The exhibition certainly had impact - we will publish some of the comments from the feedback book and tags from the Tree Of Hope in due course.

Thanks to everyone who gave their time to perform, see the art exhibition and watch the performance including Wolverhampton Mayor Claire Darke Paul A. Darke Barrow Sandra Cope Clare Wassermann

More about RAW:
https://www.realartsworkshops.co.uk/

You can now donate online to the Mayor's charity which includes su***de prevention: https://www.paypal.com/gb/fundraiser/112574636177901026/charity/3757861