Festival held in memory of Torfaen dad Mathew Harvey to raise awareness of male suicide

Mathew Harvey, who took his own life in 2016, was a keen musician, playing in several rock bands, has been described by one of his best friends as “a beautiful person.”

To celebrate his life and raise awareness of male suicide, Mr Harvey’s friends and families have teamed up with South Wales Valleys Samaritans to host the festival for a second time.

Mathewfest will feature a number of local bands, and is expected to see around 200 people attend. It is being held at Pontypool United RFC, on Conway Road, at 7pm tonight.

Craig Jenkins, one of Mr Harvey’s best friends, said: “For me this event needed to take part for two main reasons - firstly, to celebrate the life and memory of Mathew, and secondly to raise the awareness of depression and male suicide.

“There is simply not enough done to tackle this awful disease. This is one of the reasons why we chose Samaritans in Wales as our charity because of the amazing support they provide for anyone going through a difficult time in their life.

“You would never think Mathew was going through what he was going through and I can only hope that following Mathewfest, even if we make one person pick up the phone and call Samaritans, then we have made a difference.

“I really do believe this from the bottom of my heart that Mathew would have wanted this event to go ahead and am so proud we are able to do it for a second time.

“Mathew was a beautiful person who is missed and loved by so many people and I am so proud and thankful to everyone taking part to celebrate Mathew's memory and to help raise awareness of the importance of reaching out for help.”

The festival is the second fundraising event this year in memory of Mr Harvey - last weekend a number of his friends completed a sponsored run and cycle along Pontypool canal.

The first Mathewfest was held in 2017 and raised more than £10,000 for the Samaritans which allowed them to improve the support they provide across the Valleys area.

(Mathewfest in 2017 raised almost £10,000 for Samaritans Cymru.)

So far, £1,821.50 has been raised this year for the charity.

Alison Smith, director of South Wales Valleys Samaritans said: “We’re proud to be involved with this fantastic event for a second time.

“Mathewfest is a really positive way of engaging with local communities and raising awareness of the importance of talking and reaching out for help.

“We want more men like Mathew to access our emotional support service and encourage help-seeking behaviour in the Valleys area and this event and celebration is all about those same aims.

“Feeling distressed or suicidal is far more common than many people may think and the important thing is that that we encourage conversation.

“We know that many people bottle up their problems and try to be strong but there is no shame in asking for help, in fact I would say it’s a strength.

“The family and friends of Mathew are working really hard to get this message across to the community and we hope they receive all the support they deserve.

“We would like to thank them for working with us and choosing us once again – the donations raised from Mathewfest have helped us reach many men across the Valleys.”

Tickets to Mathewfest cost £7, which will include a free entry into a raffle for a luxury hamper.