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.
We are so excited to announce that we are launching a Crowdfunding campaign for Mindful Art Club on Monday 3rd July 2023. Do you know what that means?
It means that in just four days time we are hosting an exciting online event that will be live-streamed to Facebook, and will include guided mindfulness with Emma, performance poetry by Peggy, and other surprise guests.
Could you ask for sponsorship for a running event, cycling challenge, daily swim or walking challenge? (Remember Captain Tom Moore, who made the headlines in 2020 when he raised money for charity in the run-up to his 100th birthday?)
Want to shave your head to raise funds? Art Club volunteer Kerry Evans is doing that on 14th July!
Top Tip – Tag Mindful Art Club in all your Facebook posts and make the posts public, so that people who do not know you have the opportunity to sponsor you too.
Quit Smoking – Even non-smokers are aware of how challenging it can be to kick a smoking habit, so this challenge will often inspire generous donations. Ask your friends and family to sponsor you in order to motivate you to quit for a month.
Dry July – The perfect way to get healthy and all for a good cause. As well as getting sponsorship for going dry, you can save up the money you would have spent down the pub and donate this at the end of the month too.
Top Tip – Get your friends and family involved in the challenge. This will help to raise even more money and reduce the likelihood of you cheating!
Are you in? Contact us now and we will set you up a fundraising page that links to our Crowdfunder. We can also send you a printable paper sponsorship form.
More Ideas
Charity Dinner Party – Host your own Come Dine with Me event, or themed tea party, charging your guests to taste your culinary delights.
Shave your beard or grow a moustache (Think Movember!)
We would also appreciate it if you would share our crowdfunding campaign page on Facebook and Twitter when it is live, to help us reach more people.
We couldn’t do our vital work in Plymouth without the help of generous charitable donations. So please join us to help us offer more mental health support groups at Moments Café in Plymouth city centre.
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.
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.
A collaboration brought to you by Pillars of Wellness and Wellbeing and the Mindful Art Club, this wellness day will provide sessions to assist you on your journey to wellness. A retreat-style day for anyone wanting to try new practices to help them on their healing path.
Pillars of Wellness and Wellbeing are a local organisation offering practical advice on ways to improve wellbeing.
Lauren from PWW says, “There are many things we can do to improve our mental and physical health that sit outside of the main stream and we understand that these things can often be out of reach for many. Mental health issues can affect anyone, but there are so many things we can do to bring a sense of relief at difficult times. The activities throughout the day have been carefully selected to provide a nourishing and restful experience, with practitioners who are highly experienced in their fields. This event will include sessions in yoga, qigong, sound healing, breathwork, meditation and a talk about the importance of good nutrition. Come along, meet new people, try something new and enjoy a day of wellbeing-focused activities.”
This event by Pillars of Wellness & Wellbeing CIC and Mindful Art Club CIC is at Devonport Guildhall, Ker St, Devonport, Plymouth PL1 4EL
To book your place follow this link, scroll down to ‘Free Ticket +Contribution’ (write a price) and input your contribution as zero (unless you want to donate). Although the top line says free tickets are sold out, please be reassured this is not the case.
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.
The return of our online art club in October and November was a great success.
This is a supportive, monthly, online session offering creativity and good company: A short mindful meditation and an easy art project.
Tuesday December 20th 7.00pm – 8.00pm
Early bird tickets are available at just £5.00 until seven days before the event – after that the full price is £6.50.
“I really enjoyed tonight’s session. Thanks very much. Lovely to see some familiar faces and meet some new people.”
Linda
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 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. We offer a different art project each session. Our mission is to make mindfulness more fun! We’re not teaching art techniques, we’re just here to play. (*You don’t have to speak if you don’t want to.)
“Thank you so much for bringing back mindful art online. I’m going through a lot at the moment and would have spent tonight in tears if it wasn’t for you guys, but instead did something productive and calming.”
Becky
You will need some felt tip pens, some plain paper and an (optional) cup of tea or coffee.
You will also need to download Zoom, free video-conferencing software, to your computer, tablet or smart phone, before the day. https://zoom.us
After payment you will receive an email from Eventbrite saying, “Check the event page for all the information you need to join.” The link in that email will take you to a page with the Zoom invite. *Check your spam folder, notifications folder or promotions tab for the email!*
Ticket sales end 10 minutes before the event starts.
Early bird tickets are available at just £5.00 until 12th December – after that the full price is £6.50.
On Saturday 26th November we held a wellness day in collaboration with the WEA, Pillars of Wellness & Wellbeing CIC and POP Collectives funding.
The day offered stalls, workshops and speakers, and entry was free. We were pleased to be working with Lauren Packham from Pillars of Wellness and Wellbeing to organise this event at University of Plymouth, in the Roland Levinsky building.
Talks included qi gong, nature, nutrition, lived experience and stress management. Workshops included Mindful Art Club, qi gong, a sound bath, yoga and a guided meditation with David Rees from Here to Live Life.
“As the world opened up again last year, Mindful Art Club helped me to open up.”
Chris, a member of the Friday group at Moments Cafe
In this video Peggy, Emma, Chris and Dave explain the impact of art club, at the wellbeing day.
This Saturday 26th November we are hosting a wellbeing day in collaboration with the WEA, Pillars of Wellness & Wellbeing CIC and POP Collectives funding.
The day will offer stalls, workshops and speakers, and entry is free. We are pleased to be working with Lauren Packham from Pillars of Wellness and Wellbeing to organise this event.
Wellness Day
A full day of wellness focused talks and workshops, with stallholders in wellbeing-related fields.
Location: University of Plymouth, the Roland Levinsky building.
Date: 26th November 2022
AGENDA FOR THIS SATURDAY.
This is an all-day event and we recommend committing to the whole day to get the most out if it.
9.30 OPEN
10.00 TALK Lee Squires – Qi Gong
10.20 BREAK
10.40 WORKSHOP Mindful Art Club creative session, qigong and sound bath
12.00 TALK Kate Nicholls (Wylder) – Nature
12.15 TALK Duncan – Nutrition
12.30 BREAK
12.45 TALK Lived experience talk
1.00 TALK Jay Unwin – mental and physical fitness, wellbeing and stress management
