The Push Me team got so much more than tea and sympathy with artist Bobby Baker in Sheffield yesterday, we got bourbons and custard creams, the sort of biscuits that are part of the fabric of our daily lives and a whole lot more besides.

The 2 performances of Mad Gyms and Kitchens were shown at St Bartholomews Church  a wonderfully quirky setting for the work  hosted by the National Paranoia Network with Peter Billimore and his team. Taking the piece to audiences that great art often doesn’t reach, the piece is subtle and playful, inviting and warm with Bobby at its helm saying. ‘Welcome. This is my journey from unwellness to wellness, how about yours?  Let’s have a cuppa and a chat.’

In the church foyer, many commented on how the work reflected so much of their own journey to recovery.

‘She was spot on’, said one person we spoke to. ‘No one gave me a get well card when i was sectioned, I had to find my own way through it all.’ Proving Bobby’s point absolutely, that we are so often the experts, when it comes to our wellbeing and there’s so much that we can usefully share in this respect.

We’re not going to spill too much more here now about this insightful and delightful piece, but we’ll be blogging about Bobby in the weeks and months to come.  Just make sure you book a seat for the show at the South Bank as part of the Unlimited Festival in September.  In the meantime, you can find out more about Mad Gyms and Kitchens on the Daily Life Ltd website and we’ll be signposting you to Bobby’s first Push Me for 90 second film to be screened in The Space in the next few weeks and her second film shot yesterday in Sheffield will follow shortly after that.