Community – Mindful Art Club

Invited to Tea With The Mayor

We were honoured to be invited to a tea party at Lady Nancy Astors house on Plymouth Hoe, where the mayor presented several different community organisations with certificates to recognise their work. Thanks to Plymouth Astor Trust for a grant to continue our weekly support group at The London Inn, Plympton on Thursdays.

The Lord Mayor, Sue Dann, has chosen Trevi and Gifted Women as her charities to support this year. The Lord Mayor of Plymouth Charity Campaign 2022-23: Trevi & Gifted Women We first met her when the Lord Mayor and Consort attended our Mindful Art Club at Moments Cafe in June 2022.

We enjoyed meeting all the other community organisations at this event, chatting, and learning about the history of Lady Astor and the house. Lady Astor’s granddaughter Alice was also at the event to tell us a little about the Astor Trust.

Read more about our group at The London Inn, Plympton.

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.

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

New Group: Moments Cafe

We are looking forward to hosting 12 weeks of art sessions at Moments Cafe in Plymouth City Centre in the New Year, 2022. This is thanks to funding from The High Streets Heritage Action Zone initiative .

These sessions aim to teach people from diverse backgrounds about the heritage of the conservation area in Plymouth City Centre. We will talk about the history of the various places in the centre, and do an art project based on that subject. For example, we might talk about The Messenger sculpture outside the Theatre Royal, and then ask the participants to design their own sculpture. Another project would be to talk about the history of Royal Parade and bring in some photographs of what it used to look like. At the end of the 12 weeks we will take anyone who wants to go for a walk around the conservation area so we can look at the landmarks as a group.

We know that the residents of Plymouth have suffered during the lockdowns with increased mental health problems and social isolation, and so we want to give people a safe place to connect with other people. Our groups are about meeting new people, being in a supportive group, building confidence, learning new things and having fun. We want to include people from diverse communities in Plymouth and give them a safe space to be creative, have fun and form friendships.

Each session includes five minutes of guided mindfulness, five minutes of mindful drawing, a simple art project, and the opportunity to chat and relax.

“Moments Cafe is a warm, caring, friendly environment for all. The cafe acts as a subconscious support network for a lot of people. The cafe attracts a lot of people who are vulnerable, and they are supported through open conversations and a non-judgmental atmosphere. Moments Cafe want to develop their offer to the community, and have ongoing projects upstairs that will benefit their customers, and our community as a whole. The Mindful Art Club is a great opportunity for both organisations to provide the community with a fun, inclusive, creative and sociable network in a central location in Plymouth.”
Emma Oxland, Moments Café manager.

The High Streets Heritage Action Zone initiative is funded by the Department for Digital, Culture Media and Sport’s Heritage High Street Fund, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s Future High Street Fund and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Book now if you are interested in coming along to these art sessions. Your place will be fully funded, i.e. at no cost to you, but places are limited. These sessions will take place on Friday afternoons.

New Group: Shekinah

No talent?

No experience?

No problem!

Our new Mindful Art Club at Shekinah, Plymouth, is for fun and relaxation. Do you remember when you enjoyed art as a child, without judging your ability or results? These easy-going art sessions will help you to deal with anxiety, stress and daily worries.

Friendly and informal. Hosted by local artists Emma Sprawson and Lee Squires. This new group is starting on Tuesday 5^th October 2021 at The Shekinah Mission, Bath Street, Plymouth PL1 3LT.

Every Tuesday, 11.00am until 12.30pm

Shekinah is a charity that provides opportunities for people who are experiencing all forms of homelessness and other challenges they maybe currently facing. As well as therapeutically-based personal development programmes, Shekinah also runs a construction skills programme in Plymouth and horticulture programme in Torbay. Mental and physical health and wellbeing is central to the aims of Shekinah. They recognise the importance of health and wellbeing if people are going to make improvements in their lives and move off the streets into their own home and hopefully progress into training and employment when they feel able.

Mindful Art Club are grateful to have received funding from Devon Community Foundation and Shekinah Mission to run these art groups for three months during October, November and December 2021.

New Art Groups to Start After Lockdown

Who are Mindful Art Club?

Are they a business, a charity, a CIC or a community group?

And what are they going to do next?!

Mindful Art Club® is an unincorporated association. We have a small group constitution and a management committee. We recently held our annual general meeting to report on the organisation’s activities. The three trustees were present: Emma, Peggy and Clare, and the minutes were circulated to our regular volunteers, Lee and Linda.

First Emma reported on our funding bids. We were unsuccessful in two bids since the last general meeting. However we have been successful in bids with Comic Relief, Sparks Community Fund and have also received £250 from Plymouth Octopus Project. Emma is about to submit another bid to POP and a bid for Arts Council funding to run two groups.

Because of this funding Peggy reported that the following groups will begin after the current lockdown restrictions end.

Sunflower Women’s Centre on Mondays, funded by Comic Relief.
Zoom on Tuesdays funded by individual donations.
Ivybridge Salvation Army to start after lockdown, funded by DRLC
Emma to start a Friday group at The Clipper in Union Street, Plymouth funded by Sparks Community Fund.
Various online courses to be funded by Devon Recovery Learning Community.
Friday afternoons at Ocean Studios to be funded by Community Sparks Fund.
Rees Centre, wellbeing course, Tuesday evenings funded by individuals.

Since our last meeting we have networked with a lot of different community organisations including Devon Mind, the Wolsley Trust social prescribers, Plymouth Argyle, Shekinah Mission, Devon Recovery Learning Community and The Clipper.

We have decided to invest in regular professional supervision meetings with a mindfulness teacher, retreat host and counsellor.

We have written a six week course, Doodle Your Recovery, and a three week course Zen Doodles for DRLC which will be run on Zoom.

We have joined the Loneliness Action Group with Labour councillor Kate Taylor, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care.

We have been featured in The Plymouth Chronicle twice and Emma has been on PTown Radio and Omnium Radio.

We celebrated one year in business with a dinner party, and made a video of it and sent thank you cards as a PR activity. We promoted our anniversary on our website and social media.

And finally, Emma and Peggy have both completed a five week business course called AWE Sofa Sessions with Dartington School of Social Entrepreneurs. Emma is now going to study the Nuts and Bolts of Business course with them.

To find out about when our next online courses and real life groups are launching join our mailing list now. As a thank you for joining, we’ll instantly send you a mindful colouring bundle with meditative art activities inside, to try at home.

One-Off Art Club in Torpoint

The Mindful Art Club are heading to Awenek Studio to host one of our art for wellbeing sessions. This event is free, and there are two parts to the session with options to bring your own packed lunch or just come to the morning or afternoon. Please get in touch with awenekstudio@gmail.com
or text 07931457386 to confirm your space.

THURSDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER 2020 FROM 10:30-14:00

They have an indoor outdoor socially distanced space but are keeping numbers to five participants morning/afternoon. The Studio is based at Maker Heights, a beautiful and picturesque hilltop location that serves the communities of Millbrook, Kingsand, Cawsand and Cremyll.

Awenek Studio CIC is a hub for all those artistic people or anyone who wants to have a go at the joy of being creative together.

More info on Facebook: Mindful Art Club at Awenek Studio.

How to Reduce Stress and Increase Confidence

Want to improve your mental health, make new social connections and learn some fun new ways to cope with stress?

It could be time to try Mindful Art Club!

Some of the issues being tackled in our community mindful art groups are social isolation and poor mental health. We address these problems by using creative activities to make it easier for clients to engage in meaningful conversations. Often when depressed or anxious people are put in a position where they have to talk about how they feel, it’s the last thing that they want to do. In our art groups they have a place where there is something slow and steady to do, and there is no pressure to talk about anything. We find in our groups that as people begin to trust each other, they open up about how they feel and get support and identification from the rest of the group.

Two of the most common mental health issues are anxiety and depression. Research shows that the activities of mindfulness and art can be more effective than antidepressants and counselling. Author of ‘Lost Connections’, Johann Hari, believes that to help people change their lives they have to have a connection with other people, to find meaning and purpose.

Being in a supportive group builds up self-esteem and confidence. We do a different art project each week, and trying new activities has been proven to be good for our wellbeing and emotions, (in a survey by BBC Arts 2018). The same survey said that nothing beats taking part in art classes that involve face to face social interaction for people’s mental health.

So, our community groups give people the opportunity to share their feelings, practice mindfulness, create art, relax and chat. Mindful art club:

1) Improves mental health
2) Improves social connection
3) Teaches new skills.

Try mindful art club for free by checking out our online group.

Windows of the Souls

Want to be a part of a collaborative art piece, that records our time in lockdown?

Want to feel more connected and together, even though we are separate?

Do you enjoy doodling, but fear that you have no talent?

Just draw yourself looking out of the window!

There is no artistic ability required for this project. You just have to be willing to join in and have fun. You will need a piece of plain A4 paper, and whatever you like to draw or paint with. Send us a message through our contact page, or send us a photograph of your drawing through our Facebook page.

It could be time to try Mindful Art Club!

Just draw yourself looking out of the window!

This group project is for you!