“WITH ENDLESS LOVE.”

EDITED BY PENNY SHAUGHNESSY, GINI SIMPSON AND SIMON HOLDER.

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY SIMON HOLDER.

This film is a tribute to Pete Shaughnessy, co-founder of Mad Pride, who tragically took his own life late last year. It contains professionally edited highlights of the existent footage of Pete, taken from TV, recordings at Mad Pride shows, promotional videos and other sources, and set to appropriate soundscapes including Pete’s own nuggets of wisdom.

Pete achieved a great deal during his lifetime. In addition to being the most influential mental health survivor campaigner and media spokesperson in Britain from the late 90s until his death, he was a father, husband, stepfather, actor, care worker, overall philanthropist, man-about-town and many other things besides. Pete wore many faces, reflected by the huge numbers of friends he made from varied subcultures: the South London Irish Community, the world of mad activism, the anti-capitalist movement, the media, Dulwich Hamlet Football Club and beyond.

This film concentrates mostly on Pete’s mad activism, the face he usually showed to video cameras. Pete, as is widely known and documented, kick-started many campaigning and caring groups including Mad Pride, Reclaim Bedlam, Bermondsey & Rotherhithe Mental Health Support Group and Southwark Mind. Pete was one of the first few mad activists to realise that direct action, humour, glamour and punk rock were the ways forward to make mental health the first great civil rights movement of the 21st Century. He pursued his vision ruthlessly, dynamically and without compromise, pushing the boundaries of common sense at every opportunity, and now the social standing and self-confidence of psychiatric patients are that bit better for his having been here.

The struggle will continue, and Pete’s work will live on within the struggle. But above all he will be badly missed by his family and friends. We hope that this short film goes at least some way towards doing Pete justice.

Stop the Suicides!