Arts for Health provide creative delivery of high quality, inclusive engagement bringing benefit to our service users, carers and staff and improving clinical outcomes; working with our facilities and estates team to enhance health environments within and across the Trust patch.
Creative Arts
We're passionate about the importance of the arts in healthcare and the difference it can make to the experiences of our service users and staff.
Our creative arts activities take place on the wards, bringing creativity in many forms to inpatients, and can include any artform such as visual art, photography, music, dance, drama, creative writing, reading for wellbeing and poetry.
Our programme and projects considers the wellbeing of the participants involved. Each participant’s contribution is highly valued and encouraged in a manner that is fair, equitable and inclusive.
The Wellbeing Art Group is delivered by local artist Ruth Allen and provides adults with an opportunity to participate in a range of creative activities which can help to improve mental health and wellbeing through social interaction, developing new relationships and skills.
Sessions take place fortnightly at Holmcroft Library from 1.15 - 2.45pm.
There is no charge and people can book on to the sessions by contacting Holmcroft Library by email: holmcroft.library@staffordshire.gov.uk or telephone 01785 253908.
Dates for the Wellbeing Art Group are:
8th and 22nd January2025
5th and 19th February 2025
5th and 19th March 2025
In Shrewsbury the group is run by professional artist Jean Mills and takes place on Thursdays from 2 - 4pm at English Bridge Workshop, Shrewsbury. A range of techniques are explored using different materials and equipment.
Some projects lead to exhibitions of artwork within Trust buildings or in partnership spaces and galleries.
Fab afternoon, really lifted my spirits - Lovely day, made me laugh, lovely people - Brilliant class, thank you. This group keeps me sane, love it! - Thank you ever so much for having me as part of this group, it really helps.
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Enhancement
Arts for Health works in partnership with facilities and estates and outside arts organisations to ensure that new environments and developments of buildings and ward spaces benefit from the involvement of artists and service users.
It is an ongoing commitment by Arts for Health to continue to promote the importance of a positive, colourful and healing environment through the involvement of the arts.
On 31st October we held a celebration to mark the completion of three murals designed and painted by art students from the University of Wolverhampton.
Over the summer the students – Laura Boden, Amy Cole and Charlotte Webb – created designs inspired by artwork created in workshops with patients and our lead artists Mark Uttley and Kate Slater.
The students painted the final designs onto the garden walls and these murals have enhanced the garden spaces, providing a pleasant and stimulating outdoor facility for patients, staff and families who visit.
The Milford Ward Manager, Stacie Hughes said “I’d like to thank Laura, Amy and Charlotte for their hard work; the murals vastly improve our outdoor spaces for inpatients to enjoy and spend valuable, therapeutic time outdoors whilst on the ward. We are very lucky to have this space, and it really does make a such a positive difference to the experience of our patients.
"The project has been a great success on many levels and has given the students an opportunity to work in a mental health setting and alongside professional artists. We hope to continue our relationship with the Faculty of Art, Business and Science at the University of Wolverhampton and to invite new students to take part in future projects."
Arts for Health are currently working on a number of enhancement projects at Redwoods and St George’s – improvements to the patient environment.
On Birch ward, which is an adult acute ward at Redwoods, we are working with local artist, Luke Crump to design a ward sign -that will say ‘Birch’ within the day space – surrounded by images created by Luke and the patients – on the theme of wildlife, nature and botanicals.
Luke will also help to design a wall mural within the day space that houses the kitchen hatch – for mealtimes. He is working on ideas from consultation with patients again around the theme of nature.
On Laurel ward, also an adult acute setting, we are looking to design a wall mural on the entrance to the ward, which will be used as a discharge message board/wall. Where patients who are soon to be discharged can write messages of hope and positivity – placed on the mural – for new admissions to read and support their introduction to inpatient facilities.
The themes arising through consultation here are similar, involving nature and the idea of a waterfall moving through the landscape indicating the stages of illness to wellness for our inpatients during their stay. Artist Ruth Allen from Stafford is working with patients and staff to design this mural and they have already created some lovely individual images which will be incorporated into the final design.
Designs in Mind, an organisation in Oswestry that supports participation by local people in touch with our services, engaging them in a range of creative projects leading to commissions, designs for manufacture for their outlet shop and other community involvement. The team there have spent time at Redwoods consulting with inpatients, through workshops and are re-designing some large panels for the foyer of the Wrekin, adult acute building. The panels were originally created by Designs in Mind in 2011 and now need refreshing, so we have gone back to work with them and their current members to create a refreshing entrance to our building.
Work to screen print the designs is in process and will be completed in the late summer/autumn.
At our St George’s site, on our adult acute ward, Milford, artists Mark Uttley and Kate Slater have been working for over a year there with inpatients and staff to create a number of indoor murals and artistic additions to the ward's spaces. Currently they are working with students from Wolverhampton University School of Art – where they are hoping to improve the garden spaces. There are many areas of brick sections which the team will look at improving with murals. Ideas are being generated through workshops with patients and staff; for the students and the artists to work into designs for the outside walls. The students are in the process of studying illustration and graphic design, this work experience will be invaluable for their future decisions and choices - and this is a great collaboration with the University, one which we hope to continue for some time.
Artist Mark Uttley has created new work as part of an enhancement project on Norbury ward, including some fantastic art on the fence outside Norbury’s Seclusion.
The various woods have their own natural protection: Cedar, American Red Cedar, Larch and Oak…the wood will turn shades of silver as time goes by. In addition, the work includes plant pots with foliage to create a living wall enhancing the view from the unit.
Illustrator Charlotte Tisdale has created a new design on the large fence that surrounds MOD unit on Brocton ward. Charlotte is a Shrewsbury based illustrator who produces very quirky and unique illustrations.
Charlotte worked with staff and inpatients to come up with a design for the MOD garden fence. The finished work is a colourful scene incorporating nature and elements of symbols and images that relate to the armed services, navy and RAF. We hope that people find the final image uplifting and will be bright and welcoming for inpatients when using the garden space.
Flight is a kaleidoscope of butterflies created by Debbie Todd (ProteanArt) in partnership with Arts for Health and service users and staff of Brocton and Chebsey Wards.
The butterflies were laser-cut from plywood then hand decorated by the service users and staff in the weekly art group facilitated by Debbie. Each butterfly is unique and has its own character and destination - so when flying together new patterns and shapes are created, and individual stories are celebrated.
Using very ordinary materials - coloured paper and recycled magazines - the piece creates the extraordinary and explores the themes of transformation, metamorphosis and regeneration inherent in us all.
Following a recommendation by the CQC to improve the sound quality of the ward, we devised a project using acoustic panels within a glass atrium.
We worked with a young poet, Matilda Houston-Brown, to create a beautiful poem called Journey Soon, inspired by the beach scene mural created on the ward previously with artist Debbie Todd. The poem was printed onto the panels using a variety of fonts and sizes. The resulting panels have helped enormously with the sound quality in the ward.
Severn Fields is the home of our community teams in Shrewsbury. Arts for Health worked with Participate - an artists co-operative - to enhance the environment and provide a privacy screen for people waiting for appointments and the staff working in the offices.
The artists created a visual graphic that explores the landscape, hills and river around Shropshire, highlighting various key landmarks.
Live music
We have a wide range of musicians who deliver the live music programme across our mental health wards. There is a strong emphasis on engagement with service users, rather than just performance.
Concerts take place at 2pm on Tuesdays in the Bistro at the Redwoods Centre, Shrewsbury.
25 February - Steve Tams - a range of piano classics and popular tunes on the Steinway grand piano
25 March - James Taylor - very talented and versatile pianist playing our Steinway grand piano
29 April - Marko & Rob - music across the decades on guitar & vocals
27 May - Ben Taplin & Fergus Reid - guitar and vocals
All are welcome to attend, and we welcome applications from musicians who would like to take part in the programme. To enquire, please e-mail: artsforhealth@mpft.nhs.uk.
Marvellous atmosphere, very therapeutic, excellent music - I enjoyed the beautiful music very much - Brilliant music from incredibly talented musicians! - Most enjoyable and relaxing.
We are looking for freelance musicians who are interested delivering live music across our mental health wards at Redwoods, Shrewsbury and St. George's, Stafford.
There is a strong emphasis on engagement with service users, rather than just performance, with the aim of bringing benefit to our service users, carers and staff.
We have 3 exhibition spaces available within our mental health facilities: Trust Headquarters and St. Chad's at St. George's Hospital in Stafford, and the Bistro at The Redwoods Centre in Shrewsbury.
Traditionally these have been used for entries from our Art Competitions, and they are also available for artwork from our art groups.
The exhibition space is in the Bistro area, by main reception and we are currently showing an exhibition of lino-cut work by participants of our Wellbeing Art Group in Shrewsbury.
The group meet every Thursday at English Bridge Workshop and explore a range of different art techniques and methods, under the guidance of our professional artists Jean Mills and Jackie Coyle.
On the evening of Thursday 28th November we held an exhibition opening, showing a mix of lino-cut artwork and screen-printing images that were created with the support of Dungarees and Squeegees, who operate from the English Bridge Workshop where the art group meets.
They are all truly lovely pieces of work, and we are proud of the group for their expertise and imagination.
Thanks to the artists for their continued professionalism, ideas, and caring support with the project, and to Vibrant Shropshire for funding towards this project.
Resources
Here you will find lots of useful resources from the Arts for Health team. This includes some tutorials and worksheets created for Arts for Health.
You can also find more exciting content and information on our Arts for Health YouTube playlist, where there are more easy-to-follow tutorials, and other videos relating to our projects and activities. Please click here to access our Arts for Health YouTube playlist.
We have a Photobox kit which provides Activity Co-ordinators with the opportunity to do photography with inpatients.
The kit includes 4 digital cameras plus a Canon Selphy printer which instantly prints images taken on the cameras using the memory cards. It produces 6”x 4” colour prints – which can be used just as they are or put together as a collage. The participants enjoy the instant results with this printer – a sense of achievement – or an opportunity to improve their photography on the spot.
We run regular training for Activity Co-ordinators and AHPs so that they are familiar with the kit and feel confident to use with inpatient groups. Sometimes images taken with the cameras are curated into exhibitions at our inpatient sites.
Artists Mark Uttley and Maddy Blatherwick-Plumb worked with patients and staff on wards at St George’s Hospital, Stafford and The Redwoods Centre, Shrewsbury, to create new artwork which has been used to create two unique packs of playing cards.
These playing cards celebrate the wonderful artwork created by patients and staff and raises awareness and understanding around all aspects of mental health. Why not take a moment to play a game of cards, learn something new, connect with people, and learn a new skill?
Games and tips for using the Playing Cards
Sevens - (3-6 players) - In turns players play a card, beginning with sevens (diamond first) as the foundation for each suit. Once a seven is played, you can build up or down on that suit, with the aim to be the first to play all your cards.
Rummy - (2-6 players) - A classic card game, in which players draw and discard cards, trying to get "sets" that typically consist of sets of the same values or runs of consecutive values.
Cheat - (3-13 players) - The aim is to be the first to get rid of all your cards, and you can bluff about what cards you are playing on a turn, but if you get challenged and caught out you have to pick up the entire pile.
Golf - (2-6 players) - Everyone has a 3x2 grid of cards worth varying points, that you try to improve. Just like in real golf, the goal is to get the lowest score possible over nine holes or hands.
Patience - (1 player) - Is a card game for one person where the aim is to arrange the cards in some systematic order or, in a few cases, to pair them off in order to discard them.
Special events
Our special events over the years have included a national Arts for Health seminar, Trust celebration days and a variety of longer-term music and creative projects.
A fantastic day was held at our summer festival on Friday 26th July 2024, highlights included…
Live music from Bob Gessey, Steve Tams and Gemima & Billy – some amazing music to please a range of tastes and to provide a fabulous backdrop to the event.
There were ponies on site – care of Lollipop Ponies from Birmingham…a therapeutic and accessible intervention, they were tame and could be stroked and cuddled.
A Hoola Hoop demonstration and workshop was led by Wendy Martson from Sundorne Sports Centre – a great display of ability and ingenuity…they are amateurs who just really enjoy the sport and keeping fit in a fun way…lots of people had a go!
There were cakes of course provided by our great catering team and delicious ice creams from Dairy Dreams in Churchstoke – amazing!
For patients or staff needing some quite time, our Chaplain Wendy Webb had set up a wonderfully spiritual and calming space in our Oasis at Redwoods – with small candles, calming music, low lights and the offer of head massage and foot massage – plus a pair of new funky socks to take away at the end! She had a steady stream of clients…such a lovely offer to anyone needing some reflective time and space.
We had great support and help as always from our Facilities and Estates, Porters and Catering teams, plus our AHPs and ward staff…. making it a fabulous afternoon for all.
Colour & Crescendo is a project which took place at St George’s hospital, Stafford and The Redwoods Centre, Shrewsbury during May to October 2021. The project involved two high quality musicians, Richard Taylor, piano/composition and Sarah Whittingham, violin, both from Manchester Camerata Orchestra. Richard and Sarah came into our mental health settings to perform lovely and uplifting music over the summer of 2021. Their music brought joy and re-connection to our inpatients and staff after months of very little creative arts being allowed in the wards.
Alongside the music we also engaged two other artists: Debbie Todd, visual arts and Jean Atkin, poet. They worked with our activity co-ordinators to invite inpatients to express themselves about the pandemic, the last 18 months. Using colour, text, line and graphics, inpatients and staff created a huge range of beautiful and meaningful artworks on postcards - expressions of how it felt, what had helped them through and what were they most looking forward to.
During August and September 2021, Richard and Sarah took the postcards away to devise and create two new compositions, inspired by the imagery and text on the postcards as well as their own conversations and connection with the participants on the wards.
In early October, with the new pieces written and composed, Richard and Sarah returned to the hospital sites to perform their new music for the first time! We have also collaborated with Junction 15 in Stoke on Trent to produce a video of the project.
