Congratulations to our Mind Waves volunteer Laura McGlinn and the team at Tannahill Centre, Paisley. Together, they organised an inspiring, community-focussed event on Thursday 9th April 2026 – a special screening of Scottish documentary film Love and Trouble, followed by a panel Q&A session.
Laura is a mental health campaigner, who has long advocated for increased understanding and support for people affected by trauma, particularly through her involvement in the movement to raise awareness around ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences). Through the community film screening she aimed to bring local folk together to begin thinking about what can be done locally, and more widely, to provide awareness and support for those with lived/living experience of trauma.
Two of our Mind Waves podcast team Thomas and John, along with our coordinator Marie, were amongst the attendees who packed out the main hall at The Tannahill Centre. The audience were treated to a proper cinema experience, complete with big screen and snacks.
Written by and produced by Amy Hardie, Love and Trouble is a documentary which follows a young couple over a 10 year period, in what becomes an intimate exploration of living and loving in the face of trauma. Kerry and Kenny marry each other filled with hope for the future, but their past experiences will have a bigger impact on their lives together than they could initially imagine. They navigate marriage, parenthood, studies and work across what Kenny calls the “tightrope” of life with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).
After the film, there was lots of chatter over a cuppa, with everyone having their own response to Kerry and Kenny’s story. The audience were also interested in the practicalities of documenting people’s lives over such an extended period of time. Although we all took away something individual from the documentary, there seemed to be a unanimous feeling of admiration for the courage and vulnerability of Kerry and Kenny, generously sharing experience of their own recovery journey with a view to help others.
The Q&A session was lively, encouraging and informative, with so many questions and valuable insights from the audience that the event ran over time! Ably chaired by local activist and Community Development student, Jade Macdonald, the panel included: Terry McTernan (Tannahill Volunteer Coordinator and local activist); Laura McGlinn (ACEs campaigner and local activist); Kayleigh Dyer (Founder of Empower, an organisation supporting survivors of domestic abuse) and Suzanne Baines (Founder of the You Matter Always mental health programme)
Between the panellists and the audience, some of the key areas identified in the conversation around trauma support and awareness were:
- Therapies are not “one size fits all” and different people respond better to different types of therapy based on their own needs, circumstances and preferences.
- Trying to access any kind of therapeutic support for PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and mental health conditions at all is becoming increasingly difficult, giving rise to inequalities in terms of health care provision
- We should try to come together as communities to have conversations about trauma – we don’t need to know academic terminology or be experts
- There can be positive outcomes for children when parents/carers are able to access support for trauma experienced in their own childhood
- The importance of more training, awareness and open conversations around suicidal thoughts and suicide.
Overall, although we identified a lot of challenges together, there was a sense of hope. Laura spoke about the late ACEs movement campaigner Tina Hendry and the significance of her work. In Tina’s words, “Poor outcomes are not inevitable”. We all deserve to thrive, not just survive.
Thank you to everyone involved in making this event happen.
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