“Doing this art helps me cope with life. It takes my mind off all the stuff inside.”
(Participant)
Growing Strong was a Creativity for Wellbeing project facilitated by Sarah Featherstone and Alex Bowen from Breathe Creative, with funding from The Arts Council of Wales and The National Lottery Community Fund and working in the Bridgend hub of the charity Mental Health Matters as part of their community wellbeing programme in 2022-2023.
The Mental Health Matters wellbeing hubs are a safe environment offering a wide range of activities and information tailored to support participants’ needs. This meant that there was an established network of clients and referrers as well as support workers and volunteers from the organisation to call on for help if needed. Participants would often stay into the afternoon to take part in other activities. Many participants already knew each other, some were new referrals, and some came with carers. There were an average of ten people turning up every week to take part. It was a great way to combat social isolation, build self-esteem and find focus through different art activities.
“At least one third of GP appointments are, in part, due to isolation. Through social prescribing and community resilience programmes, creative arts can have a significant impact on reducing isolation and enabling wellbeing in communities.”
(Dr Jane Povey GP, Director, Creative Inspiration Shropshire Community Interest Company; All-Party Parliamentary on Arts, Health and Wellbeing Inquiry Report)
Within each session, we gave the option for mindfulness, but overall participants preferred to find this through the art activity itself. As Clare Bown writes, ‘mindfulness takes many forms: writing, drawing, and even walking. It is not just about meditation and breathing.’ Some people reported that an imposed, structured mindfulness in which everyone sits still in silence can be quite stressful for them as they were not used to it. They liked to be present through painting, drawing, sewing and writing.
Overall, sessions were structured around nature and the seasons using a range of art activities. For example, in autumn, we brought leaves into the session which were printed around a group poem. Participants were encouraged to consider the qualities and colours of each season from what they may have observed in their gardens or parks. Other examples of bringing nature into the room included the creation of Journey Sticks where group members were encouraged to think of a physical or mental journey they had been on and use different colours/beads/feathers/paint to denote each stage. This practice was useful as a meaningful record of surviving a challenging period. One woman documented her journey out of alcohol dependency, another her mental health journey from pre-diagnosis.
The collaborative poems were a way to engage everyone in sharing their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Lines from each person were assembled into one unified voice. Over the weeks, this fostered respect for and sharing of each other’s experiences, encouraging a non-judgemental atmosphere. The interactive process helped individual group members who may have been suffering from depression, anxiety and low motivation to develop on emotional, cognitive and social levels. Often, people shared their feelings such as how tough they had found the long winter months, and also their achievements including feeling able to be an usher at a family wedding, and taking their dog out to the end of the road after years of agoraphobia.
By reflecting on the wider community outside of the group, participants were able to find a different perspective. The art activities awakened new awareness of the community connections in some people’s lives and what sustained them. One woman expressed how much her grandchildren brought her joy when she took them out for a walk at Porthcawl and made jumpers and hats for them.
The weekly art activities tended to focus on the process of creating rather than outcomes so people didn’t feel overwhelmed at the prospect of producing something. Sometimes we would provide a template such a window frame in which to draw or write, and other times encouraged free-style art-making and writing on a theme. Repeatedly moving a pencil over paper, doodling or free-writing can be calming, helping participants focus on the present moment . Witnessing peers having a go without any pressure encouraged others to take risks and try out new things.
We were able to exhibit many examples of work in the Wales Millennium Centre’s Ffwrnais space as part of their Un Blaned Un Cyfle project in 2023. It was a wonderful outcome to be able to showcase and celebrate participants’ work.
Participant quotes:
“Coming here – it gets me out of the house – drawing and being with others who understand.”
“I do peer support now because I’ve been through a lot myself and I want to give back”.
“Making new friends helps heal my heart”.
Project Gallery
