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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Paul McAuley

Bar creates 'safe space' where people can feel less alone

A city centre venue is hosting a weekly 'wellbeing' night where people who feel alone have a safe space to meet and make new friends.

On Point, on Victoria Street, worked to support a lot of its regular customers throughout the covid lockdowns and beyond.

And as life starts to move back towards normality, the bar wants to let people know they are still not alone.

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Iwan Steffan is originally from Edge Hill and still struggling with the effects of those lockdowns. He spent the majority of those months on his own, which he says turned him into a recluse.

The 31-year-old said he has had ongoing mental health issues for years now including severe anxiety and manic depression episodes, which he believes came about as a result of the trauma in his past.

The receptionist said he knew of three members from the LGBTQIA+ community who committed suicide during lockdown.

Iwan told the ECHO: "I certainly don't like having mental health issues especially when I'm having a bad episode, but I find the more I talk about it, the weaker it becomes.

"The worst thing to do is bottle it in and pretend to be something I'm not. I spent a long time in my teens and twenties trying to make out that I'm ok and I have a perfect mind and that everything is great, but in reality I've been through some dark stages of life."

Like many others, Iwan says the pandemic worsened his mental health with him spending days on end in bed and having no motivation to get dressed.

But even now, with life slowly starting to return to normal, he says his mental health isn't 100 per cent.

The aspiring social media personality continued: "It's definitely affected a lot of things, the mental health side hasn't really affected work, but more so relationships.

"I feel that people sometimes tend to take a step back when they learn someone has severe mental health issues, maybe like they come with some sort of baggage?

"For me personally I'm more attracted to people that have been through difficult times. I see their real pure side this way and it can be a beautiful thing."

Iwan is hoping to meet more people who have been through difficult times at On Point's 'wellbeing' hub Monday's.

Justin Quine, a spokesperson for the venue, explained there will have board games available for visitors to play as an ice breaker as well as interactive tables with different games and socials on them.

On Point pride themselves on being a safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community but welcome anyone to attend the well-being hub night (Justin Quine)

He said: "We want the night to be as informal as possible so people don’t feel like they are at a meeting but we will have a speaker on the night.

"Katie Taylor-Smith is the founder Hub for Wellbeing and will discuss what her charity involves and offer support to people that may need it. There will be leaflets and booklets from different charities placed around the venue."

On Point's 'wellbeing' hub night happens every Monday on Victoria Street.

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