Events Management Research: The Mental Health Foundation

Events Management
Name
Institution of affiliation
Date
Events Management
The Mental Health Foundation notes that there at least 55,000 deaths caused by Suicide in the European Union. A whooping 6,000 of these occur in the UK and Ireland. In the UK, it is the leading cause of death for people within the 20-34 age bracket. Statistics indicated that this trend is on the rise at an average rate of 4% per annum. Men are at an even greater risk of committing suicide. The demographic between 45-59 years are at the greatest risk. Men are less likely to seek help when faced with suicidal thoughts compared to women. Suicide is also heavily stigmatised against by society CITATION Men16 \l 1033 (Mental Health Foundation, 2016).
Individuals who commit suicide often are parents. Their deaths leave these children as orphans or with single parents. It is critical to find avenues through which these children can be supported. It is in the interest of humanity to ensure their protection and thus the preservation of our species CITATION Coh00 \l 1033 (Cohen, 200). Orphaned children often lack opportunity due to the death of both of their parents. The death of parents has a significant impact on the psyche of any human being adults or otherwise. This impact is even more pronounced in children CITATION Koz13 \l 1033 (Kozlova, 2013). The psychological trauma that affects the children can last into adulthood impacting the decisions they make and their capability to perform in a dynamic environment. Parental deaths often lead to feelings of abandonment by the children. In their quest to feel the void left by parents, children may turn to drugs and social vices CITATION NAB04 \l 1033 (NABORS, 2004).
In the face of such evidence, it is crucial to contemplate solutions to these problems. It is however, impossible to stop death or in any way attempt to predict its onset. The best solution would be to provide ameliorative measures to the orphaned children. Providing them with mechanisms to adjust to life without their parents and in a manner sharing the burden of grief with them. The Samaritans is a non-profit organisation incorporated as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation that offers support to individuals whom may have suicidal thoughts. The charity provides them with an avenue through which they can have conversations with individual and reduce their tension. This service allows them to support these individuals and reduce deaths from suicide.
The Opportunity – Orphaned Children – Survivor
Children who are orphaned early in life face difficulty coping as they grow older. Research has proven that children whose parents commit suicide are up to 3 more times just as likely to commit suicide in their adulthood. This signifies the impact of a parent's death on the psychology of a young child. In childhood, a child's mind is still mutable in the process of being formed. As such, the death of parent creates a huge rift in their ability to conceptualize abstract notions. The parent denotes love, authority, provision and security to the child. Their death thus leads the child to question these notions CITATION Smi05 \l 1033 (Smith, 2005).
It would be difficult to adequately drench grief from the child's soul. However, it is possible to share it. In sharing this grief, allow the child opportunity to grieve and deal with their emotions. There is a need to avail an opportunity for children and adults who were orphaned as children to come together. The event would allow them opportunity to interact and share their stories. The event would be specifically for Orphan children due to suicide CITATION Tra14 \l 1033 (Anon., 2014). The highlight of the event would be a talk from a respected (an individual that children already know) person who could talk to the children about grief, emotions and their transition to adulthood.
Event Details
Event Name:Kids’ Day – Survivor
Date and Time:27th August 2016, 1000hrs – 1600hrs
Duration:6 Hours
Venue:Hyde Park
Event Description
Kids’ Day – Survivor is aimed to be an event of its kind though it will be its first time to be held in London aimed at helping Children whom are orphaned due to Suicide. The event will celebrate their ability to survive such tragedy and move past it. It will be held at Hyde Park since the park has large spaces, secured by the park police and is centrally located thus can be accesses by multiple transportation systems e.g. Cabs, Uber, Piccadilly and central line.
Mission
The objective of the event is to provide an opportunity to celebrate the resilient spirit of the children whom have survived the traumatic experience of losing a parent.
Vision
The mission of the event is to collect enough funds for orphaned children and create an yearly event that will raise awareness on suicide and its impact on children.
Audience Profile
Despite the event being for young children only, it is expected to attract people from all walks of life since many will be glad to come to the event to show their support for these children and an understanding of the nature of suicide.
Event Organisers
I will be the organiser of the event with the help of few friends.
The Event - Survivor – London, Hyde Park 2016
The event, dubbed Survivor, would be a six-hour long charity event starting from 10 am to 4 pm in London's Hyde Park on the 27th August 2016. The event will purpose to lift the spirits of orphaned children due to suicide as well as raise funds for them. The date was chosen due to it falling on a Saturday. The day is also towards the end of the month, thus most guardians especially those paid at work on a monthly basis will have cash to spare. The time between 10 am to 4 pm was chosen because the park’s opening times are also in line with the event's timings, and the event managers would not need to unnecessarily impose on the parks management. The time is also sensitive to the need of the children’s guardians who will need to prepare the children. Thus it is not too early and also not too late as to allow the guardians to facilitate the transportation of the children back home. Hyde Park was chosen first due to its scenery which denotes tranquillity as it is one of the Grade 1 Royal parks CITATION All12 \l 1033 (Allen, et al., 2012). The park is also pristinely located and served by the Central and Piccadilly line allowing people to access it. The park also has controlled entry points. This would ensure the children do not wander out of the park and get lost. The park has the capability of hosting over 6,000 people and events of different types. This flexibility further cemented its choice as the event location. There would also be no major children’s events in the London Metropolitan Area on that particular day meaning the target audience would be available for the event. The weather at this time of the year would be conducive for outdoor activities. However, should it rain, we will have organised for a large tent to be set up to cater for such an eventuality. The tent will have some indoor games e.g. basketball that children can play as they wait for the rain to stop and thus they will not become restless.
The wow factors of this event include; Stephen fry who will talk about dealing with grief. The Pop star Linda Nolan will perform for free as she already a supporter of Samaritan and their vision. The Key note speaker who finishes of the day will be Ricky Hatton, the British boxer and will also offer sports training for children. Barry Simmons- who does the quiz show will also be on hand to offer quizzes to our guests. The event will also feature a live band. The band will be required to play popular renditions of songs that the children enjoy and the children will get to sing along. The event will also feature popular games such as high slides, swings and bouncing castles. The event organisers will ensure that these games in such a manner that they differ from what the children are used to. The event will also feature a portable swimming pool and water games such as water gun fighting.
Parents of children will also be allowed to the venue but will not be allowed to participate in any event. It will include side shows, playing grounds, equipment for young children and entertainment at the main stage that will be erected by the stewards and volunteers. It will be low key and feature brass bands. There will be free drinks for the kids, but their parents will have to buy one bottler at £1.5.
The title of the event, Survivor, was chosen as it denotes perfectly the purpose of the event. To celebrate the resilience of these children in the face of the psychological and mental trauma they face. This celebration will be through will allow us to re-invigorate them by providing a forum through which they can have fun and learn. The event would thus feature entertainment activities. There will be live music throughout the event from local bands. There will also be a race for the children as from 1300hrs to 1345hrs. Winners from the race will be awarded at the main stage at 1400hrs. From 1430hrs there will be donations from the stakeholders to the orphans.
The event would also bring on board a number of sponsors whose corporate activity are in line with the objectives of the event. These sponsors all support the Samaritans and as such will be willing to support our event. These sponsors include;
Admiral Group Anglo American
AOLBarclays Bank
The Cabinet OfficeDerrinstown Stud
East Midland TrainseBay
Ecclesiastical InsuranceEmployee Benefits Awards
Everything EverywhereFirst Capital Connect
Frank & Evelyn FaheyIntrinsic FS
ITV StudiosJLL – Jones Lang LeSalle
JLT GroupMoney Saving Expert
Lawyers AwardsNext
Other stakeholders could include; the Department of Education and the NHS, etc. NHS as a national body would provide the event with much-needed credibility. Enhancing the image and purpose of the event in the eyes of the public. The NHS and the Department of Education of the UK would bring on board the government. The NHS would highlight how grief affects orphaned children and impacts their health as they grow older. The Department of Education would have an opportunity to highlight how grief impacts children and their education in the UK CITATION Ale09 \l 1033 (D’Amato, 2009) CITATION Smi11 \l 1033 (Smith, 2011).
Being a donation day for orphans from the orphanages, all the stakeholders willingly agreed to participate as part of their social responsibility programs and policies. They also agreed to sponsor the event to make the children feel loved and cared. The sponsors will be requested to support the fundraising event by contributing 1,000 pounds each.
Attendance
The park location can accommodate 300 people, 200 children and 100 adults. Stewards and volunteers will be on the entrance to count the number of children and manage the attendance. The volunteers will consist of members of the Samaritans who volunteer there.
Target Audience – Orphaned Children due to Suicide
The event while a children’s event must take note that children will and do not realistically make the critical decision to attend events. Event organisers must, therefore, take note of the demographic responsible for making decisions of this nature. The advertising campaign should, however, take note of the persuasive nature of children. The primary target audience should thus be the children themselves. The campaign should persuade them of the efficacy of attending such an event. The target audience will be between 5- 19 year demographic of both genders. The secondary audience will be the decision maker who typically fall between the age of 25-45 both male and female who become the guardians of these children. The audience lives in London and is targeted primarily due to their guardianship of these orphan children. The event organisers will request the Samaritan to propose the children and guardians who can attend the event. The event will focus on Londoners to limit the need for families that live outside London to travel for the event. However, in the future the event will be opened to the whole nation.
SMART Objectives
The “Survivor” event is a children’s event aimed at providing hope for orphans. The event will aim to do this by providing them with a platform to be children by playing and enjoying themselves. It will include side shows, playing grounds, equipment for young children and entertainment at a main stage. It will be a live entertainment band. The band will play music that children enjoy. The event will also raise funds to go towards supporting these children and create awareness about their needs.
The “A Shared Grief” ev...