Plympton – Mindful Art Club

Supported Art Activities

Mindful Art Supported Activities start Thursday 13th October 2022

Mindful Art Club has been providing peer support groups in the Plymouth community for three years. Prior to this Peggy and Emma have many years of experience supporting vulnerable clients in residential addiction treatments centres.

We are now launching a new weekly group exclusively for clients with learning, physical and sensory disabilities, or mental health difficulties. We invite clients to attend, with their support workers, and enjoy five minutes of simple guided mindfulness, followed by an art activity. Art projects may include drawing, collage making or decorating painted stones. During the group clients and support workers are encouraged to relax and chat while making art.

Our friendly, relaxed groups boost mental health and reduce social isolation.

Session includes:

A check in to say how you are feeling
Five minutes guided mindfulness
Art activity
Coffee or tea
All art materials
A check out to share how you feel at the end of the group.

Costing and Access

Each session lasts and hour and a half, and includes a coffee or tea, and all art materials.

Cost: £15.00 per session.

Places are limited so we ask participants to book in advance.

Reserve your place now.

We look forward to seeing you at Mindful Art Club!

Thursdays 2.30pm – 4.00pm

Rees Centre Wellbeing Hub

Mudge Way, Plympton, Plymouth, Devon, PL7 2PS

Accessibility

Ramped/Sloped Access, and Manual Doors

Off-Site Parking nearby.

Livewell Fund Boosts Mental Health

Thanks to Livewell funding we have been running a Mindful Art Club in Plympton for three months.

We share images on our Facebook page each week, to show how the group is going. (We secure written permission from our service users before posting pictures to social media.)

“Finally! A place where you can truly be yourself, be heard and supported. I feel so included and seen and it has given me real confidence in life. I love the creativity, the chats, the laughs and just this feeling I am totally welcome. I really look forward to Thursday mornings”.
Plympton group participant

Our aim is to improve people’s wellbeing and mental health and reduce social isolation. We give people a space to share their feelings, learn different mindfulness techniques for self-care, be creative in a group, relax and chat. We supply all art materials and suggest a different art project each week.

“I really enjoy the mindful group. Meeting lovely likeminded people who don’t judge you. This group is helping me a lot.”
Plympton group participant

Since the project started in April we have served 14 beneficiaries, who attend regularly. We have hosted a group every week, except for the Jubilee bank holiday Thursday.

“The mindful body scan and tongue drum really helped me focus on my breathing and my body. It really relaxed me and made me feel calmer.”
Plympton group participant

We have collected written and verbal feedback to measure how we have reduced social isolation, built self-esteem, and improved mental health. We collect comments in a comments and suggestion book.

We also evaluated our client’s wellbeing at the beginning of the project using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS).

Si Parnham works for Heads Count at Colebrook SW, a user led network for people who access mental health services, carers and everyone with experience of or affected by mental health matters in and around the city of Plymouth. Visiting our Plympton group he said,

“A room full of joy, and people feeling safe and comfortable to talk about how their lives are. Really worthwhile visit and an excellent community lead group.”
Si Parnham, Heads Count

Join us on Thursdays at 11.00am at The London Inn, Church Road, Plympton.

Two Free Art Sessions This Saturday

The village of Plympton St Maurice is getting ready for the return of our popular midsummer festival on Saturday 18th June. Peggy, and volunteers Joanna and Maria, will be hosting a Mindful Art Club stall at the Lamb Feast, so come along and have a chat, have a go at some art, and see the art that has been created in our weekly groups at The Brook Inn, Plympton. You can also find out about our free art groups, evening courses, retreats and staff wellbeing sessions.

Alternatively, come and meet Lee and Emma who are offering a zen doodles workshop at Plymouth Wellness Fair on 18th June. Come and join in with this free mindful art session to see for yourself how it can really lift your mood. There is no artistic talent required! You can also hear special guest experts deliver presentations, speak to wellbeing champions and explore the range of stallholders for all things wellness and wellbeing. This is an event for anyone looking to make positive changes to their lives. If you have any questions about mindful art you can chat to Lee and Emma on our stall.

Find out more: Plymouth Wellness Fair

Plymouth Wellness Fair | 18 Jun, 09:30 – 17:00 Devonport, Devonport Guildhall, Ker St, Devonport, Plymouth PL1 4EL

Read more about Plympton St Maurice Lamb Feast: Midsummer Festival

Book your place at the Mindful Art Retreat, held in Plympton St Maurice, Sunday 3rd July.

Come to our free weekly art group, 11.00am on Thursday mornings at The Brook Inn, Plympton.

Plympton Lamb Feast Returns!

The village of Plympton St Maurice is getting ready for the return of our popular midsummer festival on Saturday 18th June. Peggy, and volunteer Joanna, will be hosting a Mindful Art Club stall at the Lamb Feast, so come along and have a chat, have a go at some art, and see the art that has been created in our weekly groups at The Brook Inn, Plympton. You can also find out about our free art groups, evening courses, retreats and staff wellbeing sessions.

The Lamb Feast has been held for hundreds of years on the Castle Green, beside the ruins of the Norman castle. The village will be decorated with bunting, the green will be busy with food, craft, cake and plant stalls, charity stalls, swing boats, vintage cars, a dog show, a tug of war and dance displays. After two years with no festival we can’t wait for it to return!

Read more about what’s on: Midsummer Festival

Book your place at the Mindful Art Retreat, held in Plympton St Maurice, Sunday 3rd July.

Come to our free weekly art group, 11.00am on Thursday mornings at The Brook Inn, Plympton.

Livewell Funds Plympton Art Club

We are delighted to have received funding from The Livewell Foundation to run a mindful art club in Plympton for six months. The Livewell Foundation’s mission is to support projects and initiatives that will help improve health and wellbeing, prevent ill health or reduce social isolation within Plymouth and South West Devon. Livewell Southwest is an independent social enterprise providing integrated health and social care services for people across Plymouth, South Hams and West Devon.

Our Plympton group meets weekly at The Brook Inn, Longbrook Street at 11am on Thursdays and offers coffee, creativity and company to improve mental health and reduce social isolation in Plympton.

Join our mailing list to find out what other free and low cost events we offer around Plymouth.

Plympton Art Course Improves Mental Health

We recently offered a six week course at Plympton Guildhall, called ‘Doodle Your Recovery’ – thanks to funding from Devon Recovery Learning Community.

Initial feedback indicates that one hundred percent of the participants enjoyed the course. When asked what they had learned on the course people wrote:

To relax and just let creativity flow
Mindfulness
To breathe better
Empathy
To give time to myself
Communication
How to think of myself as well as others
To not dwell on problems so much
To express feelings through art
That I am not alone and it’s OK to feel how I feel

Some suggestions to make the course better included:

Maybe more meditation
Qi Gong
Name badges
Increase it to two hours, with a break

One hundred percent of survey respondents said they would recommend the course to other people.

If you would like to try using creativity to improve your mental health we will be at The Brook Inn, 33 Longbrook Street, Plympton, PL7 1NJ from Thursday 3rd March 2022.

[Pictures] Art at Plympton Guildhall

We started the New Year in a new venue: The historic Guildhall in Plympton St Maurice.

Doodle your Recovery is a six week course giving people the opportunity to share their feelings, practice mindfulness, create art, relax and chat.

This course is free to attend thanks to funding from Devon Recovery Learning Community. DRLC is a recovery college provided by Devon Partnership NHS Trust to promote mental health and wellbeing. Their students are people with lived experience of mental health difficulties, their family and friends, and the professionals who support them.

Missed enrolment for this six week course? Join our mailing list and get free colouring pages to use at home, and news of our next free mindful art events in the Plymouth area.

New Course: Plympton

Learn to practice relaxation exercises and art for self-care at the historic Guildhall in Plympton St Maurice. Each session 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 is a six week course giving people the opportunity to share their feelings, practice mindfulness, create art, relax and chat, it also:

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 which anyone can do e.g., drawing Zentangles or paisley, or making a greeting card.

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

This 6 week, in-person course will start on Thursday 13th January 2022.

We will be using the Council Chamber upstairs in the Guildhall building for this course. Places are limited on this course so book now to avoid disappointment.

Book now: Doodle Your Recovery

Not ready to commit to a six week course? Join our mailing list and get free colouring pages to use at home, and news of our other free mindful art events.