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.
Are you already in recovery but want to connect with others?
Recovery Art Clubis 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.
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.
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.
We are pleased to be offering a new weekly mindful art group that offers peer support for mental health and teaches participants how to use mindfulness and art as coping strategies.
The format of this group will be a check-in at the beginning where people can talk about how the cost of living is affecting them, 10 minutes of guided mindfulness and a simple art project that anyone can do. We will offer practical solutions to the problems that people are going through such as sign-posting to other mental health organisations, help with form filling, advice about financial help, stress management, healthy eating on a budget and sign-posting to food banks. It is the peer support that makes all the difference at Mindful Art Club.
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
New funding from Devon Mental Health Alliance will support Peggy and Emma to continue delivering a popular weekly Mindful Art Club group at Moments Cafe in Plymouth city centre, every Friday from 1pm to 3pm, for the next six months. This group is open to anyone who is looking for support for their mental health and/or suffering from social isolation. Read more:
Did you know you can boost mental health and wellbeing in your organisation by booking a one off mindful art session or a six week course for your employees or service users?
We recently hosted a lively art session for Plymouth Argyle Football Club Community Trust, where everyone enjoyed a lot of talking and laughter, while creating art inspired by The Jack Leslie Campaign. The campaign recently raised funds for a statue to honour the Argyle footballer denied an England cap in 1925, just because he was black. Pictures in a souvenir match day programme brought Jack’s story to life (programme available here), and then we drew zen doodles inside a football, and coloured in an image of Jack Leslie.
We used a visual mood scale to evaluate our impact, and 98% of the participants said they felt happier after the session.
David said, “I have enjoyed the meeting with the Mindful Art Club and they have shown a great deal of empathy in their conversations.”
Rose said, “I found this session enjoyable and relaxing . The colouring in reminded me of my years as a teaching assistant. It was well lead.”
We have previously delivered a mindful art session to some premiership match officials. Dr Liam Slack, Chartered Sport Psychologist at PGMOL said,
“Peggy and Emma at Mindful Art were really pleasant and made everyone on the mindfulness session feel comfortable. They delivered a session that was really easy to take part and was enjoyable for all. I believe mindfulness art has a positive impact in promoting good mental health.“
Contact us now to book a wellbeing session for your organisation.
Want to learn to practice relaxation exercises, and art for self-care?
We are looking forward to working with Devon Recovery Learning Community in 2023 to deliver a 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.
‘Doodle 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 Zentangles or paisley, or making a greetings card.
We end the group with a ‘check out’ to share how everyone is feeling after practicing mindfulness and making art.
This 6 week, online course starts on Monday 16th January 2023
