HOLIDAYS: There is no Mindful Art Club from Monday 8th August until Friday 19th August.
These are the free sessions we are running in August, when we are not on holiday:
Monday 1st and 22nd, 1pm Sunflower Women’s Centre. Booking essential. Thursday 4th, 25th, 12.00pm The London Inn, Plympton. No need to book. Friday 5th, 1pm Moments Cafe, New George Street. Booking essential.
These groups are free thanks to our funders and partners; Trevi Sparks Fund, Livewell Foundation, The London Inn, and Moments Cafe and Memory Matters Hub. All groups will be back up and running as normal on 1st September.
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 six months.
Starts: Tuesday 6th September 2022, 1.30pm – 3.00pm
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 funding from an OPCC Community 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.
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.”
Are you interested in reducing stress and boosting mental health?
You’re going to love our six week course!
Doodle Your Recovery is a six week mindful art course that boosts mental health and reduces social isolation, or bonds existing teams together. The offer includes two facilitators and all art materials. We have previously provided this course to organisations such as Devon Recovery Learning Community, Devon Mind, Positive People Pluss and The Sunflower Women’s Centre.
After the lockdown I felt very isolated and found it difficult to relate to others. Coming to Mindful Art Club has helped me feel reconnected with others.
Course participant
Contact us today to discuss whether this would be a good fit for your organisation.
We are delighted to announce a new partnership with The London Inn, Plympton. This sixteenth century pub offers live music, a beer garden in summer and cosy real fires in the winter.
Learn to practice mindfulness and art for self-care at The London Inn in Plympton St Maurice, starting Thursday 7th July 2022. Each session includes five minutes of guided mindfulness, five minutes of mindful drawing, a simple art project, and the opportunity to chat and relax.
Come along and grab a coffee or tea, and a cake. The group starts at 12.00pm and lasts for an hour and a half. We currently have charitable funding from The Livewell Foundation to make this group free to participants.
(Update, July 2023: We do not currently have charitable funding for this group, so it is now offered to the community as a voluntary service.)
This weekly art group gives people the opportunity to share their feelings, practice mindfulness, create art, relax and chat. Mindful Art Club:
Improves mental health
Improves social connection
Teaches new skills (relaxation exercises and art for self care).
Due to the age of this historic building the lounge bar and toilets are not accessible to wheelchair users. (However, some wheelchairs are able to access the public bar area.) As an alternative we offer a number of other art groups in Plymouth and online.
Please contact The London Inn if you have any accessibility enquiries.
There is on street parking in George Lane and the nearest bus route is 21A. Alight at Longcause.
Learn to practice relaxation exercises and art for self-care in May at Devon Mind’s new offices in Plymouth city centre. This free, six week course is starting on 23rd May 2022 but places are limited.
Each session 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 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 are Devon Mind, your local mental health charity. We’ve been fighting for mental health in Devon for over 35 years with our campaigning and support services.
DevonMind.com
Like all local Minds, they are an independent charity affiliated with the national Mind association.
Devon Mind’s recovery courses and workshops are all designed to support you to develop positive lifestyles and choices. Visit their website for details on how to book your place on Create Your Recovery
To get a reminder about this course and other Mindful Art Club events in the future sign up to our mailing list.
We recently received this great feedback via LinkedIn.
Well done on setting up such an amazing project. I’ve been to a couple of sessions and found them to be really friendly, fun, informative and relaxing and it really helped me deal with my anxiety. The way you run them allowed me to have a go at art and leave behind the self criticism that so often affects me. The great thing about it is you’re giving people ideas that they can take away with them and continue at home. A big thank you Peggy and Emma, I wish you every success in the future.
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.
On Friday 4th March 2022 The Lord Mayor and Consort visited our weekly art group, held upstairs in Moments Cafe, in Plymouth City Centre.
It was a pleasure to meet The Lord Mayor Mrs Terri Beer, and Consort, Mr Colin Beer, who joined us for coffee and a chat, and then took part in the mindful art session, with ten other participants.
The session included a check-in, guided mindfulness, mindful art, and then a simple art project, with the opportunity to chat and relax. The Mayor and Consort engaged in the group discussions and enjoyed the activities.
Terri Beer was born and raised in Plymouth and has lived in the city all her life. She was educated at St. Maurice Primary School and Plympton Secondary Modern School (now Plympton Academy). Our very first Mindful Art Club was founded in Plympton and still takes place at The Brook Inn on Thursdays. Mindful Art Club has now grown to offer sessions in community services all over Plymouth. We also offer one day retreats, staff wellbeing sessions and evening classes.
Join our club by signing up here to find out what we offer in your area.
