ABBIE
We are Muddle Collective!
HOLLIE
Who are we?
Muddle is a collective of students who aim to educate and promote the awareness of mental health, breaking the stigma that still surrounds it. We want to create an informal care network for students like us who would value from something like this within the university.
LUCY
Our business concept:
We intend to break the stigma around mental health through an informal care network - this will be made up of a quarterly zine and a weekly society.
LIV
Type of business within the current climate:
Muddle is a not-for-profit student community collective, run by students for students. There is no current society or student-based outlet of this nature. We believe that this is more approachable than a professional adult service, with the zine serving as a middleman between struggling and seeking professional help.
MEGHAN
Delivery system and platforms:
We are proposing a printed zine that will be distributed around the university and local businesses. A zine model would be sold as a starter kit to other universities who are looking for or would benefit from a mental health based society.
ABBIE
Potential partners:
Other local universities such as the Uni of Leeds and Leeds Beckett
Local charities such as Mind, Samaritans and Inkwell Arts Centre
We would also seek funding partners such as the Princes Trust or the Students Union
HOLLIE
How is it funded?
We aim to be a not-for-profit collective, but we realise that we can’t do everything for free. There would be a small charge per zine to cover the cost of printing, as well as an annual membership fee for the society. Weekly drop-in sessions would be held for free but there would be monthly sessions with talks and activities which can be attended for a small fee to those who aren’t members.
We would also earn money through selling the zine model to other universities.
LUCY
What does it look like?
The zine will have a playful yet sensitive aesthetic, promoting a supportive tone of voice. We each have our own individual ways of image making, but the tone of voice is often similar and so would work well together.
The society will be informal, welcoming and accessible. Both outlets will support and complement one another.
LIV
Promotion:
Both the zine and society will be promoted through social media and university emails, as well as in-house poster promotion and distribution of flyers within local areas.
MEGHAN
How is it structured?
Our zine will be published quarterly as part of the in-house society.
Management - planning and deciding on content for the zine and society
Promotion - having an online presence - social media, posters, emails
Finance - costs, budgeting,
Communication - ensuring that everyone is on the same page, organising society events
ABBIE
Personal goals:
Our main goal is to establish a service that can work as a model for other universities, that we ourselves could benefit from.
War Cry:
Muddle Collective; An open conversation, to break the stigma
HOLLIE
Thanks for listening!
Summary:
I actually enjoyed being part of a collective much more than I originally thought that I would. Initially I was worried that it would be hard for us all to organise and communicate what we wanted to achieve, but we all seemed to be on the same page with our goals for the collective. We set out with the aim to create a pitch for an informal and friendly service that provided people of university age a place to come and talk about their mental health issues. The artwork we created for the slideshow above is a brief look into what we intend our zine and branding would look like and that too is soft and approachable. With our combination of a self care style zine, monthly meet-ups and visits from professionals I think we've covered all bases and have created something that young people can enjoy, wouldn't feel too intimidated by, and could rely on.
