A group of young people march behind a banner saying Balmy Army, many holding home made placards, they are shouting and laughing.
Balmy Army March 2023. the vacuum cleaner/Manchester International Festival.

The Balmy Army – Introduction

Ever been told to ask for help? Only to be told help wasn’t available. 

Ever been told you’ve got a problem, but something inside you says, hmmm am not quite sure it’s JUST me? 

Ever get the feeling young people’s mental health care could be so much better? 

The Balmy Army is an art, activism and mutual care project for pissed-off young people. 

Using art as our activism, we imagine and make real a simpler, kinder, easier to access mental health support and care. 

Begun in Manchester 2022 young people, artists, madpride organisers, radical dreamers, disability justice inspired doers and everyone else trying to cope have come together.

Balmy Army have made process, actions, exhibitions, performances, films, zines, podcasts and disruption for Manchester International Festival 2023, Whitechapel Gallery (with Chisenhale Gallery) and Contact Theatre. 

We are currently working in Manchester,  Ukraine and more. 

What we have made.

Balmy Army – Manchester International Festival, Summer 2023

Balmy London (formally 2.8 Million Minds) – Whitechapel Gallery, with Chisenhale Gallery, Summer 2023

Balmy London – MadHearts Conference, Spring 2024.

Balmy Army Exhibtion – Contact Summer 2024.

Bi-Polar Express – Contact, Autumn 2024.

Balmy Ukraine – with Art Therapy Force Spring/Summer 2025.

Balmy Army a takeover of Contact – Manchester International Festival. Summer 2025.

Balmy Army takeover Asylum Magazine – Summer 2025.

Content/What we’ve made.

Balmy Army – A Movement. For Manchester International Festival 2023

  • A group of young people hold a hessian sign with the words "Balmy Army" written on it in pink letters. They are marching as part of a busy protest, and a crowd is seen behind them holding handmade cardboard placards.
  • Young people are shown leading a march for mental health through the streets of Manchester, holding a banner that reads "Balmy Army."
  • A young person holds up a handmade cardboard sign that reads "splash splash cams is trash."
  • Young people lead a protest for mental health. Behind them people hold cardboard placards.
  • A group of people marching for better mental health services.
  • A young person in a wheelchair shouts into a megaphone as part of the Balmy Army March through Manchester. People hold handmade cardboard placards in the background.
  • A young person is shown mid-chant as part of the Balmy Army march, they are holding a banner.
  • Young people begin the march through Manchester, holding a "Balmy Army" hessian banner.
  • A shot of the Balmy Army performance in festival square, Manchester. A young person preforms on a darkly lit stage, as audience members sit on the floor and watch. It is lit a dark purple.

Balmy Army – Exhibition of the process, Action Lab and Space for Mutual Care. At HOME.

  • Shot of a wooden table, a blank back wall framed with coloured pieces of paper, and some pillows hanging from the ceiling.
  • Image of the gallery space at HOME in Manchester. In the centre is a long making-table lined with chairs of different colours and styles. The walls are white with brightly coloured ellipse shapes pasted onto them, and a bright striped pillar sits in the middle of the space.
  • Wide-lens gallery shot shows the space and a wooden chest of drawers near the entrance.
  • Wide-lens gallery shot from a different angle.
  • Gallery shot of various egg-shaped coloured pieces of paper covering a white wall.
  • Image showing the gallery wall, which is white with clusters of colourful egg/ellipse shapes stuck onto it. A large pink circle is stuck to the floor and creeps up the wall.
  • Close up of two of the egg-shaped bits of paper. Both are pink and have a handwritten letter written on them.
  • Different coloured egg-shaped bits of paper with drawings of houses on them. One shows a drawing of a castle with the text "special interest castle, (no door = no gatekeeping)" on it.
  • "The joy of being weird" written in black pen on purple paper.
  • Black handwriting on coloured paper.
  • The words "how were you supported in the past?" are written in black pen on a pink, oval-shaped piece of paper tacked to the wall. Below it are other brightly coloured pieces of paper with drawings on them.
  • Black handwritten letter written on yellow paper.
  • Photograph of a hand-drawn A4-sized poster which is taped to a wood background. The drawing is of a pink croc shoe with the text "I'm not gonna hit croc bottom" written in colourful letters.
  • A pair of white crocs with the words "HOPE" and "UNITY" written on them in black pen.
  • Wide-lens shot of the elf tent, pillow chandelier and table.
  • A long wooden table lined with wooden chairs in the back room of the gallery. Above it is a chandelier made out of pillows.
  • Wide-lens gallery shot of the back room of the Balmy Army exhibit. There is an elf tent to the left, a table in the middle, and brightly painted stepped seating on the right.
  • Wide-lens shot showing the back room of the Balmy Army exhibition from a different angle. We can see white pillows hanging from the ceiling like a chandelier.