Category: In the Media

Addiction Recovery Art Exhibition

Mindful Art Club is to present an art exhibition at Leadworks, Plymouth, on display 21st – 27th February 2025. This event is free to attend and includes an opening night with entertainment and music on Friday 21st February, 7.00pm – 9.00pm. The artwork on display is a collection of pieces created by Mindful Art Club participants and is a culmination of an 18 month addiction recovery group project. It’s funded by the Peoples Health Trust.

Book your free place here: Art Exhibition 21st – 27th Feb 2025

In the News

A former drug dealer from Devonport, who took up mindful art while on probation, is to be featured in a Plymouth art exhibition, at Leadworks, supported by People’s Health Trust, writes the Plymouth Chronicle.

Read more: Plymouth Man’s Journey From Dealer to Artist in Upcoming Exhibition

Opening night

Friday February 21st at 7.00pm. The exhibition is on display for a week, until  February 27. at Leadworks, 170 Rendle Street, Stonehouse, PL1 1TP

Music and Entertainment

Host for the evening – Lee Squires, (poet, playwright, actor, artist, Romany gypsy.)

Poet – Peggy Pegworth (rhymes about narrowboats, addictions and failed love affairs.)

My Story – A Plymouth man, “James,” shares his journey from drug dealer to artist.

Acoustic guitar and vocals with Abi Bee

Poet – Gerry Jones (true tales of and recovery)

Poet – Gerry Featherstone

Peggy Pegworth
Lee Squires

Time to mingle – an invitation to browse the stalls and art exhibition.

Information stalls: Cocaine Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous.

Book Signing – Local author Paul Tristram. Poetry and fiction books, featuring themes of addiction and mental health struggles.

Market stall – Handmade jewellery, and Mindful Art Club merchandise!

Plymouth Art Club’s Courageous Stories of Mental Health Recovery

  • What difficulties or challenges do our clients face?
  • What changes do we see in the participants’ journeys?
  • What kind of art projects do we make?
  • Do you need to be good at art to come to this club?

All these questions and more are answered in a new documentary. We Tell Your Story is a documentary series funded by the Plymouth Octopus Project, culminating in a major feature that premiered at Plymouth Arts Cinema on June 17, 2024. Directed by Drew Graves, this 36-minute film is a The Hundred Hands production, dedicated to highlighting Plymouth’s vibrant community stories.

The video production spanned two years and involved numerous local creators, from filmmakers to animators. Over 70 individuals were interviewed, capturing a diverse array of stories from across Plymouth. This initiative aims to elevate the profiles of various organisations through high-quality video formats, enabling them to reach new audiences.

The segment about Mindful Art Club CIC is about eight minutes long.

Watch now to find out:

  • Why is the peer support element of the group so important?
  • Why did Si Parnham (formerly of Colebrook SW) say it’s such an “inspiring” atmosphere?
  • How one woman found art club “accidentally” through The Sunflower Women’s Centre
  • And meet the gypsy artist made homeless when a rehab closed, and yet found  a way to express his “demons”.

Watch now and let us know what you think in the comments.

Plymouth Support Group Launches Crowdfunder (BBC Radio interview)

Peggy Melmoth and Kerry Evans were up super-early to appear on the breakfast show at BBC Radio Devon, on Sunday 30th July 2023. Watch and listen now to see pictures of them in the studio.

We need your help to help to raise funds to carry on a weekly support group at Moments Café in Plymouth’s city centre. After three years of experience, we know there are tools to increase emotional resilience, make friends, cope with difficult feelings and live happier lives. We want to share this knowledge with as many people as possible and be a positive force for good in a world that can seem overwhelming. With your support, our service can help anyone who is struggling to recover and thrive. One in four of us experience a mental health problem in any given year, so creating stigma-free spaces which offer community connection, reflection and creativity has never felt so important. – Peggy, Emma and Kerry.

Click here now to see our Crowdfunder rewards.

Listen: Peggy on Radio 2’s Midnight Mastermind

Peggy Melmoth from Mindful Art Club asks OJ Borg three questions on her specialist subject, on Midnight Mastermind.

Specialist Subject: The effects of art and creativity on our mental health

1) What three feelings does creativity help with?
2) What is the main aim of art therapy?
3) On our website we say, “Do you remember when you enjoyed art as a child?” Why do you think we say that?

Listen now to find out if OJ got the answers right!

Midnight Mastermind is the part of the show where listeners get to challenge OJ.

OJ Borg

Ask him three questions on your specialist subject, but how many will he get right? It can be questions on absolutely anything! You set the subject, so what would your specialist subject be on Midnight Mastermind? Comment below and let us know.

How to Get News From the Devon Mental Health Alliance

We were pleased to meet with Tom Cox from the Devon Mental Health Alliance recently, to find out about the work that they do, and share with him our own work at Mindful Art Club.

The Devon Mental Health Alliance (DMHA) is a partnership between six organisations dedicated to providing support for people experiencing challenges with their mental health. The goal of the Alliance is to improve access to services and identify new opportunities to support people across all of Devon’s communities, using a collaborative approach that reaches across and brings together partners from the statutory, voluntary and community sectors.

The Devon Mental Health Alliance blog features regular articles about organisations working in Devon who are supporting mental health. Did you see the one about Nicky from Marbles Lost and Found CIC? Sign up to their newsletter today and you will soon see an article appearing about Mindful Art Club! Sign up now.

[Listen] Peggy on BBC Radio Devon

BBC Radio Devon’s Caroline Cook, asks Peggy:

  • What kind of art do you do?
  • Are these groups for all kinds of people?
  • What happened to the art club during the pandemic?
  • What’s your favourite mindful art activity?

At the moment we have six weekly classes in Plymouth and a monthly online art club.

Not ready to come to a class in person? That’s OK. Grab our free mindful art activities to do at home.

New Collaboration With Plymouth University will Measure the Difference we Make

We have recently been awarded funding from the University of Plymouth’s Get Involved Awards to research and measure our impact. An Action Based Evaluation of Mindful Art Club (MAC) in Plymouth will be conducted by Dr Helen Lloyd, Emma Sprawson, and Peggy Melmoth, with two researchers; Abbie Scott and Rachel Mullee.

The awards were launched this year by the University’s Research and Innovation team – designed to bring communities and researchers together to find sustainable solutions to local problems. 

Research will be conducted from June to December 2022, with case studies produced to share the learning of the research and its impact for the community. A gala ceremony will then follow at the University on 7th December. 

We will be involving our service users, volunteers and the organisations that commission us, in the process of designing the research project.

Read more: Plymouth University Get Involved Awards

Want to know what we find out? Follow our progress by signing up to our monthly newsletter.

‘Art could help save the NHS millions…’

A woman who helped establish The Mindful Art Club in Plymouth has called for more research into what helps or at least can control the nation’s mental health struggles.

reports Nino Robertson for ‘Plymouth Live’ (The Herald).

We were delighted to welcome Nino to our group recently, who joined us for a mindful art session at Moments Café, with the Mayor and Consort.

Read: Lord Mayor Visits Mindful Art Club

Nino wrote this great article for Plymouth Live which describes what we do and why we do it.

Read: ‘Art could help save the NHS millions’ as club set up in Plymouth.

Join our club: Sign up for free colouring pages and doodle sheets.

[Video] Mindful Art at Ocean Studios

After winning a competition to receive a year’s business support from The Real Ideas Organisation we have now run hundreds of mindful art sessions, many of them at Ocean Studios in Royal William Yard. Watch now to find out:

  • Why we started this social enterprise
  • What happens at a typical mindful art session
  • See the stunning waterside venue at Ocean Studios
  • Hear from Lee Squires the benefits of volunteering
  • What is mindful drawing

Try mindful drawing at home: Sign up for free colouring pages and zen doodling activity sheets.