Animated shorts created by mental health service users from Cardiff working with BAFTA award winner Jane Hubbard came to the big screen for Mental Health Awareness Week 2023
Service users from Ty Canna Mental Health Outreach Services in Cardiff have worked with us to create a series of honest, funny and moving animated films and a mural, documenting their experience of living with mental health problems.
These films were launched at Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff for Mental Health Awareness Week (15-21 May 2023) to an audience of over 100 people.
In July 2022 Breathe Creative brought together a group of mental health service users with a diverse mix of talents but no previous experience in animation to embark on the ambitious project of creating a series of films to be shown on the big screen, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund and The Arts Council of Wales. This project was facilitated by Therapeutic Arts facilitator Katja Stiller, Animator Jane Hubbard and Composer Jacob Meadowcroft, with support from Elliot HS and Imogen Fallon from Ty Canna. The mural, created for the garden at Ty Canna, was facilitated by Arts Worker Emma Jones.
The films explore the reality of living with mental health problems and aim to raise awareness, dispel myths and challenge the discomfort many people feel around talking about such an important issue, which will directly affect 1 in 4 people during their lifetime. The group met weekly over ten months to write their scripts, learn animation techniques and create the final films – a selection of insightful and emotive individual stories, and ‘Mental Elf’, a playful group piece about a misbehaving which challenges the audience to think about their own mental health.
Projects such as this can be life changing for people living with mental health problems by offering opportunities to engage in arts, develop new skills and express creativity – all of which are known to have a positive impact on mental health – boosting confidence, self-esteem and resilience, and reducing social isolation.
“ With the help of groups and creative workshops like this one, we can take a tentative step back into socialising, having fun and being part of a supportive community!”
(Participant)
