York Mind exhibition honours Bruce Wetherhill from Tadcaster

The Bruce Project Exhibition at Fabrication, in Coney Street in York city centre pays tribute to father of two, Bruce Wetherhill, 31, who took his own life in December 2020 leaving a hole at the heart of his family.

Bruce's family raised more than £31,000 for mental health charity York Mind and since then it has been put to good use on two free projects for young men and people representing as male; a sporting part called Active Minds, partnering with York City Football Club and York Knights and CrossFit Jorvik, and a second element called My Mind On A Mural, an art project run by Art Specialists with a number of staff from York Mind to aid mental health discussions.

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Bruce Wetherhill from Tadcaster

The Coney Street exhibition is the culmination of the project.

Stef Bricklebank, young people's group manager at York Mind, said: "York Mind are very proud and excited to share with the public graffiti images created by local artist Keith Hopewell, who was commissioned to create art designed by the young people who took part in My Mind On A Mural provision at Danesgate and another group that attended at York Mind, Highcliffe House."

Local artist Keith Hopewell creating the graffiti images (Image: York Mind)

Keith said: “It was an honour to be invited by York Mind to collaborate with such an amazing group of young people. Together, we co-created artworks that were generated into designs for this strong collection of murals. It is vital that these young people are heard, and that legitimate platforms are put in place which allow their stories to be conveyed and experienced by the wider society."

The two hour event on Wednesday (June 14) runs from 5pm – 7pm and anyone can attend.

Bruce, who was 6’7” tall was a ‘gentle giant’ who lived for most of his life in Tadcaster where he went to Riverside primary and then Tadcaster Grammar School. He worked for Heineken, was married to Josie and had a little girl, Matilda, and a boy, Ezra.

He was also an avid Leeds United fan. A season ticket holder for many years and a plaque was put down in Centenary Square in his memory.

Bruce with his children

Stef said Bruce's mum and dad, Pauline and John, wanted Bruce's story to be represented in the mural, which features the Leeds United emblem with the initials BWFC to incorporate Bruce's name.

The Wetherhill family with Bruce on the right

Steff said: "The young people came up with the idea as this was very much a project lead by young people for young people."

The idea is that the work is a touring exhibition which could go on to be displayed elsewhere.

After Bruce died, his brother, Wayne, said: “Bruce was such a loving father, son, husband, brother and uncle. No one who crossed paths with him had a bad word to say, a gentle giant, and I as his big brother couldn’t have wished for a better brother and friend.

“Like far too many others, Bruce suffered with mental health problems that tortured him. He suffered in silence, afraid to reach out and none of us any the wiser. This alone is truly heart-breaking to think about.

“Suicide is the single biggest killer of men under the age of 45 and isn’t going to slow down. We want to help change this and make a big dent in this truly scary statistic that took my brother.”

Bruce with his brother, Wayne

*If life is difficult you can call Samaritans any hour, any day, on the free phone number 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org, or visit www.samaritans.org.