The one thing the team want you to know
Our aim for this project is to bring our community together, give everyone a voice, generate relisilence, provide social networks and create wellbeing. We will do this by providing peer support, clear information, strong social networks and the wellbeing activities of art and mindfulness. We are a grass-roots organisation and are witnessing first-hand how the cost of living crisis is affecting the mental health of the people coming to our groups. Coming together as a supportive group has a profound impact on peoples mental health and their ability to cope with life
Project description
Our plan is to hold a group once a week at Onward House Community Centre in Greenbank.and is intended to enhance the wellbeing of local residents and offer good quality advice and support. The format of the group will be a check-in at the beginning where people can talk about how the cost of living is affecting them, 10 minutes of guided mindfulness and a simple art project that anyone can do. We will offer practical solutions to the problems that people are going through such as sign-posting to other mental health organisations, help with form filling, advice about financial help, stress management, healthy eating on a budget and sign-posting to food banks. It is the peer support that makes all the difference. We have found in our groups that people form a deep commitment to helping each other turn their lives around. We want to offer a non-judgemental space with drinks and biscuits, share our stories, offer advice and a friendly ear and provide reassurance that people are not alone. The activities of mindfulness and being creative have been proven to relax people and give their minds a break from the worries and fears caused by the current cost of living crisis. We use inexpensive art materials, so our participants can afford to buy them and carry on being creative at home.
We know there is a need for this project because we listen to peoples stories everyday about how much they are struggling. I have been handing out feedback forms to the people who come to our groups to find out more about what they want help with, and how the cost of living crisis is affecting them. I will be using this feedback to provide information about the subjects that matter to people. The aims of this project are to bring people together in a safe, local community space, teach them the skills of mindfulness and being creative for self-care, provide social connections, give people a sense of belonging, develop friendships, boost confidence and self-esteem, and give people the tools and knowledge to make changes in their lives
Funding needed £1600
What group or groups of people will the project be working with and why?
We will be working with the residents of Greenbank who access Onward House, and also the beneficiaries of Mindful Art Club who live in the area. It will be aimed at anyone in the community seeking support with the cost of living crisis and their mental health. I live in Greenbank which is an area of high economic deprivation and I see people people everyday who are submerged in worry and struggling to find a way out
What areas will the project be working in?1 neighbourhood
We will be working in Greenbank
What is the group or organisations track record? Track record:
Been going for a few years
How new is the idea? Experimentation:
New, adapting something similar
Budget
Salaries & peoples time 50%
Project costs 20%
Event/hire/rent 15%
IT spend 10%
Core costs 5%
Capital 0%
Organisations involved
Onward Community House
