The Cultural Spring - one of Arts Council England's Creative People and Places projects which aims to increase participation in arts and culture within Sunderland and South Tyneside – asked if I would be interested in working with a Mental health Charity to create a short, animated film about mental health.
The deadline was tight - four workshops over four weeks and a three to six minute professionally made animated film created from scratch with people I’d never met before, plus a one minute trailer - to be delivered in 3 months (with the Christmas break in the middle). No pressure!
The Workshops
The workshops introduced the service-users to how we go about creating an animated film – the script, visual concepts, storyboarding, music and sound effects, choosing a voice artist, and creating an animatic (the prototype for the final animation). They engaged and contributed at every stage of the process. We started off with about 4 people in the first session and by the fourth and final workshop word had got around, and we had 10 people suggesting scenes, words, stories and imagery – some of which wouldn’t have occurred to me if I’d been working alone. I think everyone is a film director, deep down.
I am extremely proud of the final film. I usually work alone on animated projects, so it was a revelation to me that collaboration at the writing and concept stage with people who had no prior exposure with animation could work as effectively as it did. The final film, Any one of us, was embraced by the charity, Sunderland Headlight, and by the service-users who helped to create it.
Any one of us
by Scott Tyrrell
It could be any one of us
finding ourselves out of step
with the rest of the world -
footsteps slowing to a halt
Anyone one of us
becoming stuck
in our lives, in our minds -
broken down where we stand
certain it’s all our fault
Any one of us
who’ve just had enough of it all -
convinced we don’t want to be here
Any one of us
forgotten by the system -
Lost in cracks
unseen, unclear
about the way out of the maze we’re in -
no clue of where to tread
every path, an unfathomable scribble
to match the mess in our head
When our minds are overflowing like overstuffed cupboards
When we’ve given ourselves too hard a time
When we’re at the bottom of the mountain
and can’t put a foot right
When it’s just too hard to climb
When life has given us too many lemons
To even contemplate making lemonade
When the hand we’ve been dealt is a dud
and all the good cards have been played
When we’re all alone in our heads
and our heads aren’t on our side
When there’s no one to understand us
When all we want to do is hide
When all that’s left are nerves and shakes
and fear and dread and doubt
When everyone has walked away
when the lights have all gone out
There is a place, a simple place
Not too far from here
Just a house on a street
Where people meet
and talk and volunteer
to help others and themselves,
to rest their minds and feel
like they’re not the only ones
who need a place to heal
Just people in a place
Talking, thinking, seeing
that they’re not so very different
from any other human being
No magic, no quick fixes
There are no miracles here
Just a safety net of people
who care enough to hear
What you feel and say here -
how you use us is your choice
We just want you to believe
that there’s power in your voice
And that power can lift not only you
but others around you too
Lift you to believe that
there’s something great in you
It could be any one of us
searching for something brighter
and whoever you are, whatever you feel
we’ll help your head feel lighter.
The Final Film
Massive thanks to Emma Biggins at The Cultural Spring and Beth Miller at Sunderland Headlight for their support and faith in me during this project. And to my old performance pals, Matthew Reed and Martin Douglas for their voice work and sound recording, respectively. More of these projects, please. They are massively important to the community and a reminder that the arts really can help and save lives.
In February 2026, the film became a finalist in the Smiley Charity film awards.
"Scott was welcomed to Headlight by our service users because he was understanding and empathetic in his work. He provided the safe space for service users to talk about their Mental Health journey. It's been great working with Scott on this project, seeing the creativity unfold over the workshops has been nothing short of inspirational."
Beth Miller, Sunderland Headlight
"Scott was so down to earth whilst he delivered his groups at Headlight. My impression was that Scott was understanding. He explained things to us in a way that I could understand, it was as if he spoke my language and understood about Mental Health. When I attended the sessions to make the animation, I found Scott’s company really calming and he gave us time to speak. It would be a pleasure to work with Scott again in the future"
Derrick, Service-user