Edinburgh Napier University

An Edinburgh Napier graphic design student has raised hundreds of pounds for mental health charities after developing a series of prints in honour of a late, close friend. 

Student Rachel Cartledge, 19, from Edinburgh, developed a series of four prints in memory of her close friend Jack Dore, who sadly took his own life in December 2020. 

Rachel met Jack through working together in Edinburgh. He was also an Edinburgh Napier student, studying International Tourism Management. He was due to graduate this year. 

Her prints – which were developed as part of University coursework that aimed to get students to create something they were passionate about - featured a range of her own illustrations alongside uplifting quotes such as “You matter”, and “Everyone grows at different rates”. The theme of the prints was to advocate good mental health alongside brightening people’s day. 

Once the designs were finalised, Rachel sold the prints through her online Etsy shop and Instagram channel. Within the first 30 minutes, she had raised more than £100. Two print runs later, Rachel had raised a total of £704.28. 

The funds raised were split between CALM – a charity that campaigns against living miserably – and a JustGiving fund set-up by Jack’s family to help people affected by depression and other mental health issues. As things stand, the fund is nearly at £20,000. 

For Rachel, being able to do use her creative skills to help give people something to remember Jack by was a key driver of the entire project. 

She said: “Last year, one of my good friends and work colleagues, Jack sadly took his own life. His family had set-up a JustGiving page in honour of him to raise awareness and get more people mental health support. I wanted to create something to help them in their goal. 

“Jack’s death made me so upset and it is obviously something very personal to me. My idea was to create a series of mental health prints that I could sell online to raise money for the fund. I also liked the idea because whoever buys a print would get a little piece of Jack with them so his memory never fades.

“When my shop went live, I was so shocked at the response. In less than 30 minutes I had raised more than £100 for Jack and hundreds of people were sharing and commenting on my Instagram post. 

“Overall, I sold more than 300 prints. I even had to restock which is something I never thought would happen. I went into this with a passion for making a difference for Jack and designing prints to make people’s day a little brighter.

“It just shows that when you put your mind to something and work really hard, anything is possible.”

Gemma Skelding, Associate Lecturer in Graphic Design at Edinburgh Napier, said: “I set the students the Passion Project to give them the opportunity to explore a brief that is inspired by a deeper meaning, a mission, a desire for a better way and ideally, has a real-world result. Rachel's project delivered this in abundance, and I applaud her strength and drive to create such a wonderful tribute for her friend.”

If you would like to donate to Jack’s fund, you can do so by visiting here.