'Demand was so high': Tattoo studio holding 13-hour marathon inking session for charity

A Werrington-based tattoo studio is running a tattoo marathon to raise funds for charity.

The team at Ink Imaginarium, which is located on Papyrus Road, will be holding a 13-hour tattoo marathon on October 10 for World Mental Health Day.

Hayley Evans – the owner and creator of Ink Imaginarium – will be tattooing as many as 60 clients with specially created mental health related designs, with the help of her colleagues Dorota and Ini.

For every £25 design, £15 will be donated to the mental health charity, SCUFF (Scar Cover Up Freedom Fund).

Hayley, who has social anxiety, told the Peterborough Telegraph: "A huge percentage of the tattoos we do, have deep meaning to our clients; from scar camouflage, to memorials, to statements of strength.

“It makes perfect sense for us to tie in World Mental Health Day with a charity tattoo event”.

The team has already received a remarkable response - with its community rallying round the studio to offer support.

Hayley explained: “Originally we planned to work from 10am to 5pm but demand was so high that within three hours of advertising on Facebook all the appointments were booked, so we have extended it from 9am until 10pm and we're now fully booked again.

“We could potentially tattoo later into the night if we have more enquiries and we have a waiting list in case of cancellations.”

Mental health issues, along with the complexities that surround them, have touched the lives of many of Ink Imaginarium’s clients, as well as the artists themselves.

“But we've got a great team, amazing clients and already have support from one of our suppliers to make the whole day run smoothly. I'm looking forward to it."

Over the years, tattooing has evolved into, what is for some, a very cathartic and healing process.

The relationship between the artform and this process is so deeply embedded into the fabric of Ink Imaginarium that the semi-colon icon – which is one of the most recognisable symbols of mental health awareness – has been a part of the company’s logo since its inception.

It is estimated that 1 in 4 people in the UK struggle with their mental health.