Lottoland backs ‘Seats of Hope’ mental health bench campaign

Lottoland has sponsored the latest instalment of the campaign ‘Seats of Hope’ at Europa Point, which aims to raise awareness of mental health issues through a series of mosaic benches around the Rock.

To mark the occasion, the Minister for Environment, Dr John Cortes, and the CEO of Lottoland Nigel Birrell visited the bench alongside the local artist Ireana Schwock who created it.

The ‘Seats of Hope’ campaign, run by the charity Whole Wild World and supported by GibSams, features Ms Schwock’s handcrafted mosaic benches.

Lottoland recently held an internal competition to select the design for the bench.

The winning design of a loggerhead turtle received 61% of the votes, and is accompanied with the words: “Like the turtle, may you find strength in patience and hope in endurance. Rest here and know that every step forward is a victory.”

Described as “gorgeous” and “really beautiful” by those present, the bench overlooks the Strait across to to Ceuta and Morocco.

A third of its kind to be installed at Europa Point, the benches depict images of nature in the landscape and aim to promote mental wellbeing, biodiversity and local artistry.

Reflecting on the work that went into the project, Ms Schwock described “relief” at its completion.

“Everything from the transporting to making it, you don’t want any of the bits to fall, because if they fall, the whole thing has to be redone again...It’s a relief, a big relief. It’s finally done,” she said.

“The passion is to bring colour... to beautify urban areas. That is the passion that drives us. This is just the start.”

At the unveiling of the new ‘Seat of Hope’, Dr Cortes described it as “a place where people will sit and contemplate".

“Thank you very much for the to the sponsors, for investing in this sort of thing and contributing to our community,” he said.

Dr Cortes was in turn thanked by Andy Stevens who worked on the project with Ms Schwock, for giving permission for the benches to be transformed the way they have.

Mr Birrell said: “At Lottoland, we believe mental health is just as important as physical health. By supporting the ‘Seats of Hope’ campaign and choosing for the money to be donated to GibSams, a charity close to our hearts, we are committed to helping break the stigma surrounding mental health.”

“We are proud to sponsor such an important campaign, and we hope that this initiative will help to raise awareness.”

“I look forward to coming down and sitting on the bench myself.”

Jessica Leaper, Founder of Whole Wild World, noted the bench’s therapeutic impact, especially within its unique location.

“The reason why we set this up is to really connect nature to local charities, local community, and just show how important nature is for our welfare, our mental health,” she said, adding, “Nature’s very therapeutic.”

She said that the idea was conceived by herself and Brenda Cuby the CEO of GibSams for this area as the charity often get a lot of phone calls from the Europa Point area who are sitting there contemplating life.

“Thanks to Lottoland’s support, this bench for GibSams offers a place of colour, reflection, and hope.”

As part of the initiative, some proceeds will be donated to Lottoland’s chosen charity, GibSams, which provides a listening service for people experiencing mental health challenges.

David Revagliatte a trustee at GibSams was also present.

He said: “The fact that this is a place that many of the community come here to reflect, walk dogs have hopefully a time out, and to have companies support GibSams and us being present in that time is really lovely.”

Each bench is a unique artwork, designed to complement the scenic views of Europa Point. With more benches still available in the area that could turn into a ‘Seat of Hope’ he said the charity would also welcome more corporate sponsorship.

“The work is never done, and anything in any corporate that can really help us achieve more is brilliant,” he said.