Project Dates: 2023 – May 2024
Partners: Ty Canna Mental Health Outreach Services Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan Mental Health Services and Breathe Creative.
Funders: The Arts Council of Wales, Cardiff & Vale Health Charity, The Baring Foundation and The National Lottery Community Fund.
‘Line of Thoughts’ is partnership a project working with Ty Canna Mental Health Outreach Services in Cardiff and Breathe Creative, delivered by Katja Stiller, Elliot Bryn Hubbard, Jacob Meadowcroft and Michael Fulthorpe.
Weekly sessions brought participants together in a calm, safe environment. The project provided 9 participants (aged 18-24) the opportunity to break their social isolation, to process their experiences and emotions, to express themselves creatively, to learn new skills and to create short films.
The Challenge:
Many young people are struggling with their mental health, Community Mental Health Teams are overstretched and there are long waiting lists for therapeutic interventions. However, despite this huge need, it is often difficult to engage young people outside a school setting. In collaboration with our partners in Mental Health Service provision we aimed to bring young people together, referred to us by Community Mental Health Teams. We built trust and offered a supportive and friendly environment and the opportunity to create something that they would be proud of. Nine young people from diverse backgrounds took part in this project. Some of the young people are neurodivergent and had additional needs.
The Approach:
As part of our person centred approach we explored different styles of working and encouraged the young individuals to explore and build on their strengths. Participants learned new skills and used different art forms including creative writing, art, music video and animation, working in small groups. Working with professional film-makers and sound composers; each participant was given the opportunity and support to create their own ‘Line of Thoughts’ short film. Working with others helped the young people break their isolation, raised their self awareness and improved their social skills. Taking control over their creative process increased their self-confidence and self-esteem.
Quotes from participants:
“Everyone has challenges to face, we need to be more patient with each other. “
“This group has been a safe space for me to come to and express myself.”
“Looking at the films brings back happy memories of our sessions together.”
“People here are so welcoming.”
“For the first time I learned how to use a camera and direct my own film, music and sound added another layer.”
“This project takes my mind off things, I have a lot going on at the moment.”
“The group gave me a positive focus and a break.”
“I want to learn more about film making and editing, I might even go back to college.”
“We had a safe space to be able to explore ideas in a creative and empowering way, to make something wonderful from something that was difficult in our lives. It will help us educate and inspire others and also give us a voice when sometimes we feel powerless. Our voices mattered in our films and what we had to say felt important!“
Lessons Learned
Some of the participants struggled with larger groups, so we split the sessions and worked in smaller groups to manage noise levels and sensory overload and to increase support for the participants who struggled with their attention and focus.
The Legacy
With the permission of the participants The films ‘Storm’ and ‘Gender Is…‘ will be used for transgender awareness training for professionals in education, health and social care. All participants are looking forward to their sharing event to show the films to their friends, families and the wider community.