Ludlow tattooist's inky semicolon day raises funds for mental health support

Noddy organised a charity tattooing day at his Ludlow tattoo studio – and had clients queuing for the symbols of support for people struggling with their mental health.

"We had people aged from 18 to a woman aged 78 to get their semicolons," said Noddy, 38, who has run the studio in Valentine's Walk, Broad St, for the last two years.

"Some had them in hidden places like their wrist and behind their ears, but others had them in the open to make them real talking points."

Semicolons are often chosen as tattoos to represent mental health struggles and the importance of suicide prevention.

Noddy's charity day in May raised around £1,400 for Shropshire Mental Health Support with the inky efforts at the Craven Ink Tattoo Studio.

He says the lockdown has deeply affected lots of people and even lead to the tragedy of some taking their own lives.

And he's speaking from personal experience when he advises others to "talk to someone".

"I went to a very dark patch about six years ago and left my partner, but she rescued me," he said.

He added: "My advice would be for people to communicate, to speak to someone. Do not bottle it up, people will listen."

Noddy, who is in his 19th year as a tattooist, moved his business to Ludlow from Craven Arms.

He said: "They formed a queue in the street to get their tattoos.

"It only takes 10 minutes to do a semicolon but longer to sanitise afterwards so we were here from 10am to 8pm."

The money will go towards helping expand Shropshire Mental Health Support's services in the county.

They want to encourage to get out and mix after lockdown and organise all kinds of groups, including working on allotments.

Noddy is planning to hold another fundraising event on September 20.

* If you have been affected by this article, you can call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit Samaritans.org.