April 2025 – April 2026
Introduction
The Art Garden / Yr Ardd Gelf project built on Breathe Creative’s long-standing Creativity and Nature for Wellbeing programmes, developed over many years with partners in health, social care and the third sector across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.
The project was rooted in a creative ecotherapy approach, offering nature-based arts activities in safe, supportive environments for people experiencing mental and physical health challenges, social isolation, and complex life circumstances.
In line with our original aims, the project sought to:
- Increase self-esteem and confidence
- Reduce anxiety, stress and social isolation
- Improve communication and interpersonal connection
- Support creative self-expression
- Strengthen connection to nature and community
- Foster meaningful, purposeful activity.
Through a person-centred and trauma-informed approach, participants were supported to engage at their own pace, with sessions designed to be inclusive, flexible and responsive to need.
Across the year, The Art Garden programme delivered a range of interconnected projects combining arts, nature and wellbeing, including:
- Community mural and co-creation projects
- Seasonal storytelling and creative gatherings
- Palliative care arts workshops
- Weekly Art for Wellbeing sessions in the allotment setting.
Our activities engaged a diverse range of participants including:
- People experiencing acute and enduring mental health challenges
- People with physical health challenges
- Individuals in palliative and supportive care
- Young people and families
- Multicultural community groups
- Community volunteers and local residents
- People experiencing poverty, isolation and marginalisation.
1. Nourishing Riverside
As part of The Art Garden programme, we partnered with the Wyndham Street Centre in Cardiff to deliver Nourishing Riverside, a community mural project in summer 2025.
Artist Anna Amalia Coviello, supported by Breathe Creative facilitator Katja Stiller, worked with local children, young people, volunteers and visitors to co-design and create a vibrant mural for the exterior of the centre.
The project aimed to:
- Reflect the identity and activity of the centre outwardly
- Celebrate the role of the food bank and community garden
- Bring people together through creative collaboration.
Participants chose a theme of fruit and vegetables, representing nourishment, growth and community resilience.
Impact
The project successfully:
- Created a welcoming and visually engaging public space
- Encouraged participation from passers-by and new community members
- Built confidence and skills in participants
- Strengthened intergenerational and community connections.
Participant feedback highlighted:
- Increased confidence in trying new creative skills
- A sense of pride and ownership
- Opportunities to connect with others.
“It is a brilliant way to meet people in your community you haven’t met before”
“I think this is the happiest I have seen him in a long time”
“The murals have transformed the outside space… bright and welcoming now”
You can see the photo gallery and more from the project on our website.
2. Tales of the Year
These monthly storytelling in nature sessions took place at our allotment space in Cardiff, bringing people together to share stories inspired by seasons, nature and lived experience.
Sessions combined:
- Storytelling, music, singing, arts work and creative writing
- Shared food
- Nature connection and reflection.
Participants included service users, support workers, partner referrals and members of the local community.
Impact
These sessions created:
- A strong sense of belonging and connection
- Opportunities for cultural exchange and shared experience
- Moments of mindfulness and reflection.
Participants consistently reported:
- Improved mood and wellbeing
- Increased connection to nature and others
- A sense of peace and perspective.
“It is a moment of peace, it is mindfulness”
“Coming here makes me appreciate nature… it brings back memories”
“This place is so welcoming, I feel a sense of connection.”
3. Flow – Palliative Care Art Workshops
In partnership with Supportive Care, we delivered a programme of 12 weekly art workshops for individuals experiencing life-limiting conditions in Cardiff.
Facilitated by artist Emma Jones, sessions provided:
- Accessible, adaptable creative activities
- A safe and supportive environment
- Opportunities for expression, reflection and connection.
The group adapted to participants’ changing needs, ensuring continued inclusion even when physical participation became difficult. We explored the seasons, changes, and the stories of our lives.
Impact
The project demonstrated strong outcomes in:
- Reducing isolation
- Supporting emotional expression
- Building peer connection and mutual support
- Providing meaningful weekly structure.
“It is my only opportunity to leave the house each week”
“The group is a distraction from thinking about our circumstances”
“Sharing jokes and laughing is really important to me.”
Evaluation Findings
Across three groups:
- 18 patients engaged in total
- Participants reported increased self-esteem, confidence, and coping ability.
- Qualitative feedback highlighted:
- Reduced isolation
- Improved emotional wellbeing
- Increased sense of purpose
Participants particularly valued:
- Connecting with others in similar situations
- Having something to look forward to
- Expressing difficult emotions creatively.
4. Hope4Change – Creative Music for Wellbeing
The Hope4Change Music Project is a long-standing Breathe Creative arts and mental health initiative, forming an important strand of The Art Garden / Yr Ardd Gelf programme.
Facilitated by musician Mike Fulthorpe, the project created a safe, supportive and therapeutic space where participants could use music as a tool for emotional expression, communication and connection, alongside the development of confidence, skills and wellbeing.
The sessions focused on:
- Collaborative music-making and songwriting
- Building trust, relationships and peer support
- Supporting emotional expression through creative practice
- Developing confidence through performance opportunities
- Creating a sense of identity, belonging and achievement.
Over time, the group has evolved into a strong creative community, with participants engaging in:
- Writing and recording original songs
- Studio and video recording experiences
- Live performances in community and public venues
- Peer learning and informal musical mentoring.
Impact
“The idea of the sessions was to create a warm therapeutic space to share thoughts and feelings safely, with music as a central tool for connection and expression.”
The project supported participants to:
- Build confidence and self-esteem through performance and collaboration
- Reduce isolation through regular group connection
- Develop new skills and creative identity
- Experience a sense of purpose, achievement and progression
Participants described the group as a key part of their wellbeing and recovery journeys, with many engaging in wider opportunities beyond the project, including further music education, volunteering and community engagement.
The project also demonstrated the wider ripple effect of creative participation, with participants progressing into:
- Volunteering roles supporting others
- New creative and educational pathways
- Increased confidence in community settings.
As outlined in Breathe Creative’s wider evaluation, the project shows how music and creative group work can provide an accessible and non-clinical route into improved mental health, connection and resilience.
5. Art Garden for Wellbeing Sessions
Weekly sessions at the Art Shed and Art Garden informed the core of this programme, offering a consistent, low-pressure creative space within the allotment environment.
Activities included:
- Natural sculpture, clay and weaving
- Cyanotypes and seasonal printing
- Mural making and collaborative work
- Visual arts
- Creative writing
- Film, photography and digital arts
- Nature-based walks and material gathering.
Sessions were structured around:
- Gentle check-ins
- Sensory engagement
- Reflective and mindful practice.
Impact
Participants experienced:
- Reduced anxiety and improved mood
- Increased confidence and creative independence
- Stronger connection to nature and seasonal rhythms
- Greater sense of belonging and community.
The environment supported both:
- Social interaction and shared activity
- Quiet, individual engagement.
“Being in nature is calming… our breathing slows down”
“Nature makes us feel part of something bigger”
“Growing plants is rewarding and improves our self-esteem”
6. Partner Feedback – Ty Canna
Our long-term partner Ty Canna highlighted the unique value of the project:
“The allotment is a totally different space… individuals like being out in nature… it is peaceful and freeing… growing vegetables gives a sense of achievement… the arts activities mean there is something for everyone.” (Hugh Syson, Ty Canna support worker).
This reinforces the project’s role in:
- Providing alternative, non-clinical wellbeing spaces
- Supporting diverse needs and preferences
- Creating inclusive and flexible engagement.
7. Future Sustainability
The Art Garden / Yr Ardd Gelf has strengthened and extended Breathe Creative’s long-term Creativity for Wellbeing and Ecotherapy approach across Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan, building a strong foundation for continued delivery beyond the funding period.
This work aligns closely with the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act, particularly the goals relating to a healthier, more equal and more resilient Wales, through preventative, community-based approaches to mental health and wellbeing.
Building on established partnerships
A key strength of the project is the depth and stability of our partnerships, particularly with Ty Canna, Growing Green, Wyndham Street Centre, and C&VUHB Supportive and Palliative Care teams. These relationships are long-standing and embedded within ongoing service provision, enabling continuity beyond the project timeframe.
We will continue to:
- Work closely with Ty Canna and Cardiff Council to explore ongoing commissioning opportunities
- Develop joint approaches with health and social care partners where arts and nature are integrated into wellbeing support
- Strengthen referral pathways to ensure consistent access for service users.
Embedding practice into systems
The project has demonstrated clear value in supporting mental health and wellbeing outside clinical environments. As a result, we are actively embedding this model within partner settings, including particularly:
- Community mental health services
- Palliative and supportive care pathways
- Social prescribing
- Community-led wellbeing and nature partners.
This supports a shift from short-term project delivery to a more embedded, preventative model of practice, where creative ecotherapy becomes part of regular support offers.
Developing long-term community infrastructure
The Art Garden allotment space continues to evolve as a shared community asset, co-developed with Growing Green and local partners. Investment in accessibility and infrastructure (including seating, planting areas, and quiet reflective spaces) ensures the site can sustain ongoing activity and wider community use.
We will continue to develop:
- Seasonal programmes of creative and nature-based activity
- Volunteer pathways and community involvement
- Cross-sector collaboration between arts, health and environmental partners.
Future funding and development
Building on the success of this project, Breathe Creative will pursue:
- Further Arts Council of Wales and National Lottery Community Fund opportunities
- Health Board and Local Authority and other commissioning routes
- Collaborative bids with established and new Health, Social Care, Nature-based and Third Sector partners.
We will also continue to co-develop future work directly with participants and advisory group members, ensuring lived experience remains central to shaping provision.
Long-term vision
Our long-term aim is to further embed arts and nature-based wellbeing practice as a recognised, accessible and preventative approach to wellbeing (mental and physical) across South Wales and beyond, contributing to healthier individuals, stronger communities and reduced pressure on statutory services.