About — You're On Mute

Twelve people. Three rural communities in Scotland. One global pandemic.

At a time when people in the UK and around the world were living within restrictions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, three small communities in Scotland took part in a ‘Winter Lockdown Project’. The communities involved were East Lothian, West Lochaber and Perth & Kinross.

‘You’re On Mute’ was made as part of this project. It documents the experiences of twelve people from the communities, of living through the pandemic.

The main film brings their voices together and twelve individual films offer a deeper exploration of the different, yet shared experiences.

Satellite map image of West Lochaber with small image of woman in right hand upper corner — Still from You’re On Mute Nic, showing a Google Earth image of the Summer Isles and West Lochaber, and an image of Nic in the corner.

Still from You’re On Mute Hazel, showing a street in Haddingtion, East Lothian, using Google Street View and an image of Hazel in the corner.

In the making of ‘You’re On Mute’, artist Pam van de Brug interviewed people using online video.

People were speaking following the winter lockdown, as they tried to maintain positive mental wellbeing and build resilience by finding ways to remain connected to friends, family and their local community.

They were asked about their own and their communities’ experiences, what they thought they would remember from this time and what, if anything, they would like to be different post-lockdown.

The twelve individual films begin with a tour of the person’s community as it has been during lockdown, using ‘Google Earth’.

Each person was also invited to share something of their lockdown lives using their own phone cameras.

These clips punctuate the films, giving pauses in the dialogue and we share a view of life beyond the one offered by the ‘Zoom’ call.

Still from You’re On Mute Sheila, showing the inside of a poly tunnel and plants in pots and trays.

Still from You’re On Mute Nic, showing Nic heading for a swim in the sea.

‘You’re On Mute’ final collection of films aims to give voice to people’s individual experiences and to offer us all a moment in which to reflect on what we experienced during this time.

As Kevin says in his interview:

‘if we forget what lockdown was like, we will really forget what we learned’

Winter Lockdown Project

The Winter Lockdown Project ran over seven months in East Lothian, West Lochaber and Perth & Kinross. The initiative was a collaboration between the mental health charity, Support in Mind Scotland, the Community Health Exchange (CHEX) and Public Health Scotland, that brought together partners from Haddington’s Support from the Start Network, Ewen's Room and Meigle and Ardler Community Development Trust.

The films demonstrate how communities can come together in times of adversity to produce positive outcomes, and also highlight how our mental health connects many parts of ourselves including our experiences of mental illness and the social determinants which impact us such as work, education, social support, income, housing, and food security.

Still from You’re On Mute Jorgie, showing a Google Earth image of Meigle, in Peth & Kinross, and an image of Jorgie in the corner. .

Still from You’re On Mute main film, showing a brown and white dog walking along a path towards the camera.

Mental health and wellbeing: opportunities for policy and practice

The Covid-19 pandemic has offered an opportunity for social and cultural change in relation to how we understand and engage with our mental lives. Mental health has been part of conversations with friends, in families and communities, as well as part of national dialogue as governments and national bodies respond to the pandemic.

The ambition of the Winter Lockdown Project is to ensure that lived experiences are reflected in the work that public health and community organisations in Scotland are doing to improve mental health and wellbeing across the population. The experiences of the twelve people from across three small communities have helped to capture learnings for future community engagement initiatives and public health action.

What you can do with the films

The films are available for use by anyone working positively to improve mental health and wellbeing in Scotland. They provide a platform for use in work on mental health and wellbeing in education, health, community-focused projects, advocacy, social work, environmental and other sectors. The films can also be used to start discussions as to what can be done as part of Covid-19 recovery in relation to developing sustainable public mental health policies and action.

If the films speak to your area of work, please use them to stimulate conversation, discussion and debate in order to support the mental health and wellbeing of the people and communities of Scotland.

If you have any questions about showing the films or would like to download them for screening, then please get in touch.

YOM Film Notes

Film notes have been produced to support people to use You’re On Mute films in their work with communities.

They contain additional background information about the project, highlight some of the themes, and offer prompts for discussion. The PDF can be downloaded using the button below.

Download Film Notes