Mindful art – Mindful Art Club

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.

Our Friday Art Group Has Moved

If you (or the people you work with) are free on Friday afternoons, we’d love you to join us in our new venue, Burgess Hall, behind the Unitarian Church in Plymouth city centre. Each 90 minute session includes five minutes of guided mindfulness, five minutes of mindful drawing, a simple art project, and the opportunity to chat and relax. These sessions are funded by our Crowdfunder campaign, but if you want to donate, to help us continue delivering our service for longer, you can easily do so online.

Book your free place now.

Burgess Hall is behind the Unitarian Church accessed from Catherine Street, (next to The Treasury bar and restaurant, on Royal Parade). The first session at the new place is at 1.00pm Friday 12th April 2024.

As a reminder, we also offer these free mindful art groups:

Mondays 1.00pm Sunflower Women’s Centre

Tuesdays 2.00pm Sunflower Women’s Centre

Thursdays 12.00pm The London Inn, Plympton

Fridays 10.00am Addiction Recovery at Leadworks

Fridays 1.00pm Mindful Art Club at Burgess Hall

Jack Leslie Campaign Donates to Art Club

The Jack Leslie Campaign have recently auctioned a piece of artwork and raised £300 to split between their campaign, and Mindful Art Club.

The Jack Leslie Campaign raised funds for a statue to honour the Plymouth Argyle footballer denied an England cap in 1925, just because he was black. The statue was unveiled on Friday 7th October 2022. Campaign founders, Matt Tiller and Greg Foxsmith, continue to promote and share Jack’s story by taking it into schools and organisations. Matt Tiller (pictured with Peggy and Emma) gave an informal talk at Mindful Art Club in December 2022 while the art group created some Jack Leslie themed artwork.

Read more about The Jack Leslie Campaign.

At a recent auction, Guardian cartoonist, David Squires, cartoon raised £300 and the proceeds were split between The Jack Leslie Campaign, and Mindful Art Club.

See the cartoon here: Plymouth Argyle’s Jack Leslie – a true football pioneer

This generous donation from The Jack Leslie Campaign will help to boost our Crowdfunder, which is raising funds to provide weekly mental health support groups at Moments Cafe in Plymouth City Centre, starting in September this year.

Mindful Art Club was set up to support adults towards emotional, social, physical and mental health and wellbeing. We are immensely grateful for any donation, no matter how big or small that lets us continue our valuable service.

Research Shows Health and Social Benefits of Mindful Art Club

A recent research study has revealed significant social benefits, and improvements to mental health, can be measured in those attending a community art group. The research was led by Dr Helen Lloyd, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Plymouth, in collaboration with two researchers; Abbie Scott BSc, and Rachel Mullee BSc. The research project was co-designed by a committee which included art club participants, art club volunteers, and the Mindful Art Club directors Peggy Melmoth and Emma Sprawson.

The study found that our creative activities provide a distraction from negative thoughts and social anxiety. Our art encourages ‘flow’- a relaxing empowering experience- and attending Mindful Art Club can boost confidence and self-esteem while reducing social isolation.

Read the full story in the Central & Waterfront edition of The Plymouth Chronicle for August 2023.

Help us reach our target of helping more people in Plymouth with their mental health. Support Mindful Art Club’s Crowdfunder.

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!

Peggy Pegworth · Peggy Melmoth on Radio 2’s Midnight Mastermind 18.05.23

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

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.

New: Recovery Art Club

Has your drinking started to worry you?

Is using drugs causing problems in your life?

Are you already in recovery but want to connect with others?

Recovery Art Club is a free, weekly group at Moments Cafe in Plymouth city centre. The group is upstairs in the Arthur Read room and will be running for two months.

Starts: Wednesday 31st May 1.00pm – 2.30pm

Moments Café, 69a New George Street, Plymouth, PL1 1RJ

Even if you can’t decide whether you have a problem or not, you are welcome to come along. There is no art experience required! Friendly and informal. Just grab a coffee and join in.

Connect with others and discover new ways of practising self-care through easy art and mindfulness exercises. Practice being here in the present moment, and accept where you are right now, without self-judgement. We will also be inviting some inspiring guest speakers to these groups, to talk about addiction and recovery.

The group is hosted by Emma Sprawson and Peggy Melmoth. They are the founders of Mindful Art Club, and have a background of working for many years in addiction treatment centres in Plymouth.

Places are free thanks to a grant from Devon Community Foundation, but booking is essential as we expect this group to be popular.

Mindful Art Session

We start with a brief chat about how everyone is feeling, then a short guided mindfulness session, followed by a simple art activity that anyone can do. Our mission is to make mindfulness more fun! We’re not teaching art techniques, we’re just here to play.

Places are limited, so if you cannot attend please let us know and we can offer your place to someone else. Book now.

Not ready for this group yet? Join our mailing list to hear about other free events.

New Research Shows Health and Social Benefits of Mindful Art Club

A new research study has revealed significant social benefits, and improvements to mental health, can be measured in those attending a community art group. The research has been led by Dr Helen Lloyd, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Plymouth, in collaboration with two researchers; Abbie Scott BSc, and Rachel Mullee BSc. The research project was co-designed by a committee which included art club participants, art club volunteers, and the Mindful Art Club directors Peggy Melmoth and Emma Sprawson.

The research was funded by the university’s Get Involved Awards, and the findings were presented at an event at the university on Friday 12th May 2023.

Watch now:

The University of Plymouth used a mix of methods to assess qualitative and quantitative data involving the service-user opinion. They concluded in May 2023:

Our creative activities provide a distraction from negative thoughts and social anxiety. Our art encourages ‘flow’- a relaxing empowering experience- and attending Mindful Art Club can boost confidence and self-esteem while reducing social isolation.

Participants made statistically significant improvements in their mood from attending our sessions. Attendance at Mindful Art club also improved participants’ level of social connect, facilitated emotional regulation strategies and supported positive mental wellbeing.

After presenting our findings we enjoyed drinks and nibbles, and meeting other community organisations who had partnered with academic researchers on different projects, funded by the Get Involved Awards.

Our Offer

We can bring Mindful Art Club into your organisation as a one-off wellbeing session, or a six week course. These can be delivered online or in person. To get proven results for your staff or service users contact us today.

Peggy Melmoth, Kerry Evans, Emma Sprawson, Dr Helen Lloyd, Abbie Scott.

Next Art Retreat: 3rd June

Would you like to join us for a day of laughter, conversation, mindfulness and art, surrounded by the peacefulness of nature?

Guided mindfulness
Qi Gong
Simple art activities
Nature walk

Read more: Mindful Art Retreat

On Saturday June 3rd 2023 we invite you to:

Step away from daily distractions
Take some time to relax and rejuvenate
Enjoy the company of like-minded people
Rediscover your sense of inner peace

Places are limited to only ten people and we expect this to be very popular.

If you are interested book now to avoid disappointment.

The retreat takes place in the picturesque village of Plympton St Maurice, near Plymouth, in South Devon. Outdoor activities are held in public green spaces; lunch is served in the local Guildhall. Most of the event is outdoors but can be moved to our indoor venue in the case of rain.

Includes coffees, teas and lunch of crusty bread, homemade cakes and a selection of cheeses, houmous, olives and fruit.

Reserve your place now.

We can’t wait to see you this summer!

Peggy and Emma

Book Now: Free Online Course

Want to learn to practice relaxation exercises, and art for self-care?

We are looking forward to working with Devon Recovery Learning Community again in May to deliver another six week course, on Zoom.

This recovery college is provided by Devon Partnership NHS Trust to support mental health and wellbeing. Their students are people with experience of mental health difficulties, their family and friends, and the professionals who support them.

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

‘Create Your Recovery’ gives people the opportunity to share their feelings, practice mindfulness, create art, relax and chat. This course:

Improves mental health
Improves social connection
Teaches new skills (relaxation exercises and art for self- care)

We start with a ‘check in’ to see how everyone is feeling. There is no obligation to speak if you don’t want to. This is followed by some guided mindfulness, then a simple art project e.g. drawing a mandala or making a collage. This course is very similar to our ‘Doodle Your Recovery’ course, but consists of different art projects.

We end the group with a ‘check out’ to share how everyone is feeling after practicing mindfulness and making art.

This six week, online course starts at 10am on Monday 15th May 2023

Bookings close on 11th May 2023 at 9am

Places are limited. Book early to avoid disappointment: Create Your Recovery