Originally launched during lockdown, the station are keen to breath fresh life into the project with IT Officer Braden Godley expressing to the Yorkshire Evening Post: “We want to help the people of Leeds. It's so important to talk about your mental health and these days a lot more people are more openly seeking help but we can always do more.”
The project, which was set up after Fever FM were approached by the National Lottery Fund, originally ran between September 2020 to March 2021 before being handed a two-year extension due to the popularity of the idea.
On top of speaking to experts the station has also featured guests who volunteer to speak of their own mental health struggles with Braden explaining: “We had a man who spoke about how he had suffered with his own mental health battle as a result of work. He was working ridiculous hours for an international company. He told his story about how his mental health fell apart, he had a mental breakdown in the end. He has since quit his job and now seeks to help other people in the same situation.”
As well as mental health the campaign has also sought to raise awareness to other key issues such as domestic violence and discrimination, which has seen them speak on air to the CEO of Leeds Women's Aid as well as a spokesperson for the local mosques.
For those at Fever FM the most important thing is being a voice for the people and ensuring that the message 'It's ok not to be ok' is heard loud and clear by both the people of Leeds and beyond.
And for Braden he feels speaking out not only improves one's mental health but also society: “I think it improves society as more people are helping each other out. It can be as simple as me asking you 'are you ok today?'. That never used to happen before but now it happens a lot more as people have become much more aware.”
