Art Club Receives Funding Through the Health Lottery

August 29, 2023October 25, 2023

Art Club Receives Funding Through the Health Lottery

A new mental health support group to help people struggling with, or recovering from, addiction is launching at Leadworks, in Stonehouse, near Plymouth city centre.

People’s Health Trust has invested in Mindful Art Club, using money raised by Health Lottery South West.

This money will be used to run a weekly art group that uses mindfulness, art, peer support and conversation to improve mental health and reduce social isolation. It follows on from a previous successful pilot project.

Emma Sprawson, director of Mindful Art Club, said: “We are very grateful for this funding which will help us to create a space which encourages connection and creativity.”

Starts: Friday October 6th 2023

Time: 10.00am – 11.30am

Location: Leadworks, 170 Rendle Street Stonehouse PL1 1TP

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 the groups to talk about their experience of recovery.

To book a free place in this new mindful art group click here: Recovery Art Group.

August 4, 2023August 4, 2023

Mindful Art Club Reaches Crowdfunding Target

We’re so happy to announce that we have reached our target on our Crowdfunder; in fact we went over our target. We have raised £10,575 to keep running our mindful art mental health support group at Moments Café in Plymouth city centre.

We had an anonymous donor pledge £5000, and also Plymouth City Council pledged £3,500. This means we can keep offering free mental health support without a waiting list every Friday. Here’s what some of our art group members said about this news on Facebook:

“I really like this group. It means a lot to me. It feels like a safe space. The other people are very welcoming. I love the different art that we do. Emma and Peggy are always coming up with new ideas that can be done in the session.

I also like the format of the group where we have a weekly check in, then do some mindfulness grounding and then maybe some closed eye, mindful drawing, one of my faves. We also have a check out at the end too. I’ve made some good connections from coming to the group and for me it’s a lovely way to end my week. I’ve really missed it when it hasn’t been running.” – Art club member

“It’s given us as a family much needed social interaction, no longer so isolated feeling alone. To know there are others who can empathise, because I thought I must be truly alone in my experiences is very reassuring. Everyone has been so kind. Love the checking in and out, making time for everyone, enjoy the art projects and taking them home to reflect upon or expand, closed eye drawing is very interesting. We had a lovely time at the mindful retreat day too, it’s all been such a positive experience I’m very grateful to have been signposted to such a wonderful resource.” – Art club member

“Mindful Art Club is my anchor in the storms of life. I love everything about it and never regret going, even when I’m feeling rubbish. I always leave feeling better than when I arrived. It feeds my soul. Can’t wait till we start again in September!” – Art club member

Thank You

We just want to give a big shout-out to thank everyone who donated over the last five weeks, it’s been an absolutely amazing response. And with more donations we could continue to run our weekly group for even longer, providing an ongoing safe space for people to access support.

Donate to our Crowdfunder here.

Book your place at the Friday afternoon art group here.

May 17, 2023May 17, 2023

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.

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.

March 31, 2023March 24, 2023

Closed For Easter Holiday

There is no Mindful Art Club from Friday 7th April to Friday 14th April inclusive. So our last art group will be Thursday 6th at The London Inn, Plympton. We will return with the Sunflower Women’s Centre session on Monday 17th April.

November 30, 2022November 20, 2022

Groups Cancelled: 9th December

We will be out of office on Friday 9th December, attending a funeral. The following groups will not take place:

10.00am Sunflower Womens’ Centre

1.00pm Moments Cafe

Groups will be back running again as usual next week.

Peggy and Emma

November 3, 2022November 3, 2022

[Listen] Peggy on BBC Radio Devon

BBC Radio Devon’s Caroline Cook, asks Peggy:

What kind of art do you do?
Are these groups for all kinds of people?
What happened to the art club during the pandemic?
What’s your favourite mindful art activity?

At the moment we have six weekly classes in Plymouth and a monthly online art club.

Not ready to come to a class in person? That’s OK. Grab our free mindful art activities to do at home.

September 30, 2022September 30, 2022

Cllr Charlotte Holloway Supports Art Group

This week we were delighted to receive a community grant from Charlotte Holloway, Labour councillor for Drake ward, (North Hill, Greenbank, Mutley and surrounds.) This funding will help us to continue our weekly mindful art group at Moments Café, in the centre of Plymouth. Plymouth councillors each have an annual grant allocation to assist not for profit groups and organisations in the city.

Moments Café is a social enterprise based in New George Street. It offers a safe environment for people to meet, eat and socialise and all of their profits go towards Memory Matters, supporting local people living with dementia.

Our Friday afternoon group meets upstairs in the Arthur Read room, and offers a place to connect, chat, practice mindfulness and do a simple art project. All art materials are provided and the group has two facilitators. Anyone is welcome to attend, and the session boosts mental health and reduces social isolation.

This is a very popular group so we ask people to book a place here: Mindful Art at Moments (If you find you are no longer able to attend please cancel your booking so that your place can be offered to somebody else.)

We would like to express our warmest wishes and thanks to Charlotte Holloway for her ongoing support of our work in Drake ward. Mindful Art Club cannot survive without charitable donations. Click here if you are in a position to donate.

September 29, 2022September 16, 2022

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.

August 31, 2022August 31, 2022

Plympton: Supported Art Sessions

We are pleased to be offering a new Mindful Art Club, specifically for clients with learning, physical and sensory disabilities to attend with an individual support worker.

The Rees Centre Wellbeing Hub is located in the centre of Plympton, is a short walk from the Ridgeway and close to the Plympton Health Centre.

Our two facilitators offer an hour and a half mindful art session on Thursday afternoons. We begin with a “check-in”. This is a chance for each participant to briefly say how they are feeling, although there is no obligation to talk if you don’t want to. This is followed by five minutes of guided mindfulness, where we focus on relaxing in the present moment. We then try mindful drawing, which is drawing with our eyes closed, for five minutes! This allows us to focus on the feeling of the pen against the paper, instead of aiming for any specific artistic result. The majority of the session is then spent on a simple art project such as drawing with felt tip pens, or making a collage. This is an opportunity to chat and relax. At the end of the session each participant gets a chance to talk about their art work and say how they are feeling.

The session facilitators, Peggy and Emma, both have current DBS certificates, and have had training in safeguarding vulnerable adults. They have extensive experience of working with vulnerable people; specifically those who have experienced substance misuse, mental health issues, time in prison, homelessness, and domestic abuse. They have also worked in residential care homes for adults with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and autism/ASD.

Mindful Art Club improves mental health and reduces social isolation. Participants leave our groups describing a warm, supportive feeling. There is always a lot of laughter in the sessions.

We are unable to offer one to one support in these groups, but instead invite each client to bring their own support worker.