Yard Act have collaborated with mental health charity Mind on a new poem for Mental Health Awareness Week.
Frontman James Smith shared the poem on social media, explaining how he worked with Mel, a young woman who suffered from an eating disorder (bulimia), to create the poem.
“When we first met on zoom, I instantly clicked with her,” Smith said of meeting Mel. “Myself and Mel talked for an hour or so about her life and the condition she lives with. We shared similar views on a lot of things and I found her to be an incredibly grounded, intelligent and astute young person, who genuinely gave me hope for the future.
“I took great care when writing this [poem] to do justice to Mel’s story. She had a great ‘no holds barred’ approach to talking about bulimia and what she has to go through each day living with her eating disorder. Her belief, in her own words was ‘if you’re going to talk about, talk about it.’”