Tag: Weekly Sessions

New Art Groups to Start After Lockdown

Who are Mindful Art Club?

Are they a business, a charity, a CIC or a community group?

And what are they going to do next?!

Mindful Art Club® is an unincorporated association. We have a small group constitution and a management committee. We recently held our annual general meeting to report on the organisation’s activities. The three trustees were present: Emma, Peggy and Clare, and the minutes were circulated to our regular volunteers, Lee and Linda.

First Emma reported on our funding bids. We were unsuccessful in two bids since the last general meeting. However we have been successful in bids with Comic Relief, Sparks Community Fund and have also received £250 from Plymouth Octopus Project. Emma is about to submit another bid to POP and a bid for Arts Council funding to run two groups.

Because of this funding Peggy reported that the following groups will begin after the current lockdown restrictions end.

  1. Sunflower Women’s Centre on Mondays, funded by Comic Relief.
  2. Zoom on Tuesdays funded by individual donations.
  3. Ivybridge Salvation Army to start after lockdown, funded by DRLC
  4. Emma to start a Friday group at The Clipper in Union Street, Plymouth funded by Sparks Community Fund.
  5. Various online courses to be funded by Devon Recovery Learning Community.
  6. Friday afternoons at Ocean Studios to be funded by Community Sparks Fund.
  7. Rees Centre, wellbeing course, Tuesday evenings funded by individuals.

Since our last meeting we have networked with a lot of different community organisations including Devon Mind, the Wolsley Trust social prescribers, Plymouth Argyle, Shekinah Mission, Devon Recovery Learning Community and The Clipper.

We have decided to invest in regular professional supervision meetings with a mindfulness teacher, retreat host and counsellor.

We have written a six week course, Doodle Your Recovery, and a three week course Zen Doodles for DRLC which will be run on Zoom.

We have joined the Loneliness Action Group with Labour councillor Kate Taylor, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care.

We have been featured in The Plymouth Chronicle twice and Emma has been on PTown Radio and Omnium Radio.

We celebrated one year in business with a dinner party, and made a video of it and sent thank you cards as a PR activity. We promoted our anniversary on our website and social media.

And finally, Emma and Peggy have both completed a five week business course called AWE Sofa Sessions with Dartington School of Social Entrepreneurs.  Emma is now going to study the Nuts and Bolts of Business course with them.

To find out about when our next online courses and real life groups are launching join our mailing list now. As a thank you for joining, we’ll instantly send you a mindful colouring bundle with meditative art activities inside, to try at home.

Community Sparks Funds Mindful Art Club

It was great to see ourselves in The Stronger North Stonehouse Journal this month after winning a grant from their Community Sparks Fund to run mindful art groups in Stonehouse, Plymouth.

Stronger North Stonehouse is an initiative bringing local people together to create a stronger, safer and friendlier community in North Stonehouse, Plymouth. The Community Sparks Fund has just funded over 20 projects!

The scheme received 30 funding applications ranging from £150 to the maximum of £3,000.

All applications were assessed by a panel made up of members of the Safer Stonehouse Board and independent judges. The panel was asked to make recommendations based on the merit of the potential impact they could have in the community.

We have been awarded £1000 to deliver two different, weekly art groups in the Stonehouse area. One will be at The Clipper, Omnium Radio’s Community Hub, in Union Street. The other will be at Ocean Studios. Located in the historic surroundings of Royal William Yard, Ocean Studios is home to an array of resident and visiting artists who regularly host workshops, exhibitions and events for Plymouth’s creative community. We are able to work at Ocean Studios thanks to winning a place on the Start Something project, run by the Real Ideas Organisation.

The grant will help us to buy art materials, and market the project so that we can reach as many Stonehouse residents as possible. The funding will also allow us to cover our ongoing costs such as administration, staff time, project planning, insurance, and project impact evaluation.

These Stonehouse venues are large enough to allow socially distanced support groups to take place. Although the UK is currently experiencing a mental health crisis, exacerbated by the pandemic, personal finances can be a barrier to local people needing to access support. This grant will help us to offer our services to people struggling with poor mental health, social isolation, poverty or addiction.

If you would like a place in one of these Stonehouse groups, which will be up and running after the current lockdown restrictions end, please contact us now. Places are limited.

Tier 3: Changes in January

We hope you are safe, and that you have had a chance to relax over Christmas. Although Devon is now in Tier 3 we are planning to continue to provide mutual aid and support wherever we can. However, some of our venues will be unable to open, even though support groups of up to 15 people are permitted in Tier 3. Details of how this will affect our regular groups are below.

In the meantime we want to offer you some fun resources to kick off the New Year.

Listen to Emma on the radio. She talked about how our art club continued to bring people together in a safe way, during a year when we were asked to socially distance ourselves from one another. Skip to seven minutes in to try a quick mindful drawing exercise.

Watch: MAC Awards Ceremony 2020 The celebrations were restricted to a very small, outdoor dinner party, because of the coronavirus restrictions.

Try our new online group. We are looking forward to working with Devon Recovery Learning Community in 2021 to deliver a new six week course, on Zoom, on Thursday afternoons. 

Learn: A quick video guide to using Zoom.

Join Our Tuesday Zoom group. A supportive online meeting offering creativity, company and social connection: A short mindful meditation and an easy art project.

Read: How to Do Art Club When You Don’t Really Want to Go Out. Includes a mindfulness recording to listen to at home, and some YouTube videos of us making art for fun.

Changes for January 2021 

Mondays The Sunflower Women’s Centre – All courses at The Sunflower Centre are currently postponed.
Tuesdays Our online group continues with new co-host Linda Langart! (£3.00)
Tuesdays: 7pm 8-Week Wellbeing Course The evening course is temporarily postponed. We will contact you with more details.
Thursdays Plympton group at The Brook Inn Postponed while we are in Tier 3.
Fridays The Sunflower Women’s Centre. Group cancelled.
Fridays Ocean Studios, Royal William Yard. Postponed while we are in Tier 3.

Full details about these groups are here: Mindful Art Community Groups When groups begin again booking is essential due to Covid-19 safety recommendations. 

If you’re on Facebook you could also join our Mindful Art Club group to stay in touch with others who come to our sessions. It’s a place to chat, maintain connections, support one another, and share your art from the Zoom sessions.

We wish you all the best for the New Year, and look forward to seeing you again when it is safe to do so.

Peggy and Emma

PS. Catch up with a video replay of one of our online art groups any time you like, on Facebook.

We’re Back Next Week!

We hope you were OK during the November lockdown. As you may know, we stopped all of our in-person art groups and just offered a weekly Zoom session for coffee, creativity and company every Tuesday. This will be carrying on throughout December. (We no longer live-stream this online group to Facebook because of some technical issues, so from now on you need to book a place in advance to get the Zoom link.)


We’re excited that our new 8-week wellbeing course launches in Plympton on 8th December, and this has proved to be very popular, with only two places remaining. Book now to confirm your place!

Things to look forward to in December 2020 include: 


Mondays 10.30am The Sunflower Women’s Centre (we’re back on the 7th).
Tuesdays 10.00am Our friendly Online Group (£3.00)
Tuesdays: 7.00pm 8-Week Wellbeing Course (Advance booking essential, starts on the 8th.)
Thursdays 10.00am Plympton drop-in group at The Brook Inn (£5.00) We’re back on 10th.
Fridays 10.30am The Sunflower Women’s Centre (we’re back on 11th).
Fridays 1.00pm Ocean Studios, Royal William Yard (we’re back on 11th).


Full details on how to attend these groups are here: Mindful Art Community Groups For most groups booking is essential due to Covid-19 safety recommendations. 


All our groups are held with Covid-19 safety measures in place, but please check the ‘Groups’ page on our website before travelling, in case there are new government guidelines affecting our meetings. 

If you don’t feel safe coming to a group at the moment we totally understand. Support groups are legally allowed to meet, and we have carried out a risk assessment on our work. But if you cannot join us in person we hope some of our YouTube videos might help you to feel less isolated. If you’re on Facebook you could also join our Mindful Art Club group to stay in touch with others who come to our sessions. It’s a place to chat, maintain connections, support one another, and share your art from the Zoom sessions. You may also like to join our mailing list to get the free mindful colouring bundle.


Looking forward to seeing you again.

Peggy and Emma

New Group: Royal William Yard

Want to learn to manage stress in a creative way?

Want to meet new people without feeling awkward?

Want to relax your busy mind, without the practice and discipline needed for meditation?

You just found the easy answer!

Our new art group at 1pm on Friday afternoons at Ocean Studios, Royal William Yard, Plymouth, offers a safe, easy-going space to have coffee, try guided mindfulness and do some art, just for fun. There is absolutely no talent required, so if you haven’t done anything creative since school that’s fine. It really is the taking part that counts. (Sorry for sounding so cliched but it’s true!)

  • Ocean Studios
    Event Space Ocean Studios

Booking

Booking is essential due to restricted numbers during the pandemic. Message us to confirm your place. The group costs £2.00

If you arrive around 12.45pm you can grab a coffee at the Ocean Studios Cafe, then head upstairs to the Event Space on the right, where you will find Mindful Art Club. You will need to wear a mask to enter the café, but once you are seated at our (socially distanced) art table you can remove your mask for the duration of the group.

How to find us

Ocean Studios, The Factory Cooperage, Royal William Yard, Plymouth PL1 3RP. 

Plymouth city centre is 20-minute walk or a 12-minute cycle away. Find us at The Factory Cooperage, opposite Las Iguanas with the red telephone box. 

Drive  

From Plymouth City Centre take A374 to Durnford Street in Stonehouse. From Cornwall take the Tamar Bridge, A38, A3064, B3396 and A374, continue onto Durnford St until you reach the yard. There are plenty of Pay and Display car parking spaces at Royal William Yard. 

Bus  

The number 34 bus travels from the city centre and stops at the Royal William Yard roundabout.

Boat  

The ferry runs every hour from the Barbican to Royal William Yard, or you can travel from Cornwall on the Cremyll Ferry to Stonehouse. 

Read more details about accessibility at Ocean Studios.

Feeling unsure? Send us a message and we can chat. We’d love to see you there.

Art Club Safely Returns to The Brook Inn

Mindful Art Club are looking forward to returning to our old venue, The Brook Inn, Longbrook Street in Plympton, as of 10am on Thursday 17th September.

The new six person rules – which come into force on 14th September – are a change to England’s current guidance. But regular Brook Inn customers will know that landlord John Govier, and his team, have been following all the government guidelines since they re-opened, so this won’t make any difference to how they operate, when it comes in to force from Monday.

At-a-glance: How do the new rules affect mindful art classes?

  • Social gatherings of more than six people in England will not be allowed in law from Monday 14 September.
  • The new rule applies to pubs, cafes and public outdoor spaces.
  • However, gatherings can be more than six if it is for education purposes.
  • Support groups can take place in gatherings of any number if the support group is organised by a business or a benevolent institution to provide mutual aid.
  • Our mindful art classes at The Sunflower Women’s Centre will be run in groups of six, and booking for these is essential. (Phone 01752 977614 to go on the waiting list.)
  • Pubs and restaurants are still allowed to have more than six customers inside, but the groups of six have to be socially distant from each other.
  • Mindful art club tends to be around six to eight people. There is plenty of space for us to all sit on separate tables, safely distanced from one another.
  • The Brook Inn follows all safety and hygiene measures set out by the government, and always has done since reopening in July.

For Your Peace of Mind

At The Brook Inn and The Sunflower Women’s Centre we check temperatures on arrival, and take client details for track and trace. Paper and felt tip pens are provided, but you can also bring your own felt tip pens to reduce the risks of sharing pens.

If you have any questions or concerns about coming to Mindful Art Club during the current pandemic crisis please contact us.

You may also like to try a free, online class .

Mindful Art Club will be at The Brook Inn every Thursday from 10 am until 11.30am.

10 Reasons to Celebrate (Despite Covid-19)

Last week Emma and Peggy held a Mindful Art Club committee meeting with two of their volunteers, (in Peggy’s backyard!) and made a note of all the things we have managed to achieve since our last committee meeting, in January 2020.

  1. We set up weekly Zoom meetings and hosted them throughout the coronavirus lockdown, and beyond.
  2. We held a staff wellbeing session on Zoom for ColebrookSW support services.
  3. Peggy’s counselling course was moved onto Zoom. She continued to attend classes, and gained her Level 3 qualification.
  4. We wrote a Mindful Art Activities eBook, to go on sale next month.
  5. We wrote an 8-week Mindful Art Wellbeing Course, which we will be testing out with a small group during September.
  6. Our volunteer, Lee, has learned to play the tongue drum, providing relaxing sounds at our outdoor mindfulness groups.
  7. We hosted four, small, socially-distant, outdoor, one-day retreats.
  8. After lockdown eased, we started a weekly art group at The Sunflower Women’s Centre, in their beautiful, outside courtyard.
  9. We have held small, weekly outdoor groups in Plympton all summer.
  10. Our loyal clients have continued to support us throughout this pandemic by turning up to our online groups, and outdoor groups, and contributing donations to our running costs.

How to Celebrate When We Can’t Even Have a Party

We are so grateful that we have been able to do all of these things, and keep mindful art club going, despite the global pandemic. On 10th September it will be one year since we held our first mindful art group at The Brook Inn, Plympton. We’d love to hold a big event to celebrate, but we’ll have to be content with a small, outdoor meal to celebrate Mindful Art Club’s first anniversary.

We will be able to celebrate in a virtual way at our online art group on 15th September, and we would like to reward our loyal clients with a small gift, which will be sent out to our mailing list on our ‘birthday’, 10th September.

Get on the list!

Don’t miss out, join our mailing list here, and get free mindful colouring pages, and news about our upcoming free and low-cost events.

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[Photos] Mindful Art at the Beach

Do you struggle to pay attention to the present moment?

Does your mind wander when you’re at a mindfulness class?

Are you avoiding indoor public places because of Covid-19 risks?

Outdoor mindfulness could be the answer you are looking for!

Before March 2020 we were comfortable running our mindful art groups in cosy pubs, cafes and community venues around Plympton and Plymouth. However, after lockdown restrictions were eased this summer, we started running small outdoor groups, and discovered this adds an extra dimension of fun to mindful art club.

A review of scientific research has indicated that the mental and physical benefits of practicing mindfulness in nature may be considerable. (Mindful.org March 2020)

You won’t be surprised to learn that being in nature boosts our health and well-being, and that combining the outdoors with mindfulness can lead to even better results.

As the Autumn weather approaches we are going to have to take our regular groups indoors, bearing in mind Covid-19 safety guidance, such as social distancing and limits on numbers. But keep an eye on our Facebook page because if the weather forecast is good, we may be able to take some spontaneous trips outside, like this small group we held on Wembury beach recently.

Don’t miss our next event. Follow our Facebook page and join our Facebook group.

How to Feel Connected in the Age of Social Distance

Would you like to socialise without even leaving your home?

Want to try mindfulness, but have no motivation to practice it alone?

Are you kind of creative, but don’t take art too seriously?

It sounds like you’d love our online art group!

Watch this short video to find out how we are responding to COVID-19, how to join us online, how did we meet, and why did we start an art club?

We interviewed ourselves in April 2020 to discuss how COVID-19 has affected our clients and how we can move forward with life after lockdown.

Watch Now:

Join us for a Facebook Live every Monday at 10am.

Now we’d love to hear your thoughts. How can we best support you? Go to https://tinyurl.com/MAC-feedback now and let us know.

[Video] New: Outdoor Art Group

Our new outdoor art group makes mindfulness more fun. We usually like to offer coffee, creativity and company, but for this group you will have to bring your own coffee! (Or tea.) Please also bring your own felt tip pens and paper, as we can’t share materials due to COVID19. The group meets at 10am on Wednesdays in Plympton St Maurice. Message us to book your place.

  • Isolated?
  • Anxious?
  • Stressed?

Watch now to find out how mindful art club can change all of that!

Now we’d like to hear from you. Do you have any questions about our new way of working outside? Leave us a comment below.