Coordinators wherever possible. Start in This is achieved through reviews and tutorials. We are delighted to report that, this year, good Manchester practice standards have been set Activities report Dec 05 – Dec 06 and successfully achieved across the team in tutorial note-keeping and feedback. Note: In the following document, the word ‘students’ refers to people using Start’s services. All artworks used in the report are made at Start by students and staff
Care, treatment, support and prevention Our activity programmes and project work are structured to support, protect and progress recovery, and to complement other health and social care interventions. We work within CPA goal plans. Interventions show detailed attention to each Sessions at Start student. In supervision, staff talk All studios continue to operate in depth about each student, and busy and structured programmes forward plan around these of creative activity. discussions to ensure best practice is achieved. For the last year, possibly due to some difficulties with the new referrals system, referrals have been slower in coming through to us, leaving some gaps in timetables. We have grasped this as an opportunity to pilot the following new groups and initiatives: • Intensive groups in arts, communication skills and change-management, with Brain Gym exercises - run jointly between artists and Start’s OT • Group in mainstream setting of All student goals at Start are set in Whitworth Art Gallery - run negotiation with students, and jointly between artists and additionally their Care Start’s OT reproduction on their new website. They are working in partnership with Start to help clients explore the theme of ‘Attitudes to mental health research’, from which we will take inspiration to develop a body of works. • The Trust’s Kingsleigh House CMHT team asked Start’s Horticulture Department to landscape their front gardens • Creative workshops on the at cost price. Start has used Edale Unit (Textiles and the request as a training Ceramics) opportunity for students • Creative workshops at Home • Start staff were commissioned Options (Photography, to develop an on-line mental Ceramics, Horticulture) health awareness training resource for artists, by Artsnet • Creative workshops at Toolkit Training Harpurhey Day Centre (Horticulture, Painting, Photography) Moving On: Building • Expanded opportunities for independence and reducing work experience for Start reliance step by step students at external events and The following progressive steps exhibitions have been achieved: • More than 15 students access Commissions studios independently, thus freeing up sessional space for Commissions teach students a new students range of transferable skills including time management, team • 13 students now work on their working, following a brief, roles creative activity independently and responsibilities, and quality at home control. Commissions form a small • A number of students have part of our sessional practice at been supported by Start OT to Start as part of our portfolio of travel to Start independently, projects in each studio. thus raising attendance levels • Birch Community Centre commissioned Start’s mosaics group to create a large-scale panel, which is currently nearing completion. • The Trust’s Research and Development Department has commissioned Start to produce a range of new artworks for run a short summer school on specialist skills. Benefits to Start students included widening of horizons, additional skills acquisition, management of change in working with a new staff member, and heightened confidence resulting from all these factors. • An ex-Start student, now volunteer in ceramics, developed and ran a successful • More than 10 students have 6 week course. This freed up sold work or had their work the Ceramics Artist to develop published photographically a different project for a new group of students. • Home Learning – a new home learning strategy is proving • 3 Start students are popular with Start’s students, successfully supporting Start some of whom have requested staff to run sessions in Start additional input from Start. To and other settings maximise service efficiency, instead of offering extra Intensive courses to progress sessions to these students, we students are encouraging them to work on structured homework With our new OT team member on projects in between sessions, board, the Start team has been with the option of calling their able to pilot 2 new courses for tutor if they need advice students, to help progress their skills and move them on to mainstream opportunities. Artists and Start’s OT are working side by side to provide specialised arts input that targets assessed needs within the student groups. 1. For students with complex support needs This course targets change- management skills, information processing, transferring skills from one medium to another, and social roles/skills. Progress is assessed through observation, and measuring • Visiting artists/volunteers - changes in a range of Visiting ceramics artist Jacqui communication skills. Brain Atkin was funded from staff Gym exercises are included, salary savings (unpaid leave) to and benefits to concentration and other skills are being monitored 2. For students with advanced skills who want to engage confidently with galleries This short course, now complete, targeted reflective and analytical skills, group working (roles and responsibilities), specialist arts practice skills, and specialist Home Options Service, the Edale gallery knowledge. Run in Unit and Harpurhey Day Centre partnership with staff at the have been much appreciated by Whitworth Art Gallery, this staff and patients, and have course has resulted in Start resulted in the production of students learning how to use photographic, ceramic and textile the gallery’s resources artworks for the corridors and independently – for example public spaces in these buildings. how to go behind the scenes of All in-reach work has been the gallery, and how to use the negotiated around shared goals. gallery website. The work has resulted in new referrals to Start’s services, plus successful voluntary work training Sessions in Acute and Community placements for advanced Start settings students. Running sessions in other settings Sessions have also provided not only extends the benefits of effective training for staff on creative activity to in-patients and these units in art skills, with a other Trust clients, but also offers view to continuing some arts a chance for Start students to help provision based around new prepare and run these sessions as techniques acquired, without training placements. Start’s support Blocks of sessions provided by staff and students from Start, for the Waiting List management • Our waiting lists are small and we try to keep waiting times to a minimum by using strategies such as appropriate signposting to alternative services, reorganising groups to accommodate additional students, use of volunteers or assistants to ease group pressures • To help us offer more opportunities to Trust clients, we are supporting a member of Benchmark to run a small responsibilities associated with woodwork group in our work basement woodwork studio • Several students at Start have obtained voluntary or paid work during the last year • Several students have succeeded in having their work accepted for exhibition in external exhibition groups. • One Start member was runner up in a regional arts competition run by the V & A
College Several Start students are regularly accessing Adult Social inclusion outcomes Education accredited college courses, with Start’s support. including mental health Three students have successfully promotion engaged with full-time Further (for mental health promotion Education. activity see Appendix) Work and training • More than 20 supported work placement/training opportunities have been created by Start at the following events/venues: Salford University, Salford Art Gallery, Whitworth Art Gallery, RHS show Tatton Park, Studio 1, Harpurhey, Home Options, Start’s studios - Textiles, Painting, Photography, Ceramics and Horticulture. Placements varied from a
single session to supporting or running a whole course of Mainstream and interagency workshops, and were in public partnerships settings, Trust settings and External exhibitions and events within Start’s studios. programmes that tackle stigma, • These work placements build promote positive images of students’ confidence and mental health, and mental health enable them to learn to handle self-care the real stresses and Whitworth Art Gallery Voyager's' health promotion messages have great potential • With viewing figures in excess for changing attitudes. I'm of 42000, the award-short- especially delighted that so listed exhibition ‘Now, many children have visited the Voyager’ established the exhibit as reaching this age Trust’s and Start’s reputation group is absolutely vital.” as an innovative service promoting positive images of • The exhibition was mental health through the arts. accompanied by a self-help Launched by Professor Aidan leaflet called ‘Do Something Halligan, Director of Clinical Creative – it’s good for your Governance for the NHS, it was mental health”, produced by described by him as “…leaving Start staff and students and a legacy behind it that people funded by the Manchester will remember long after it has Public Health Development finished…it is about hope, and Service. 15000 distributed that’s what all health care across Manchester City should be about” • Start and the Greater Manchester Arts and Health Network republished ‘Do Something Creative’ later in 2006 in an expanded form for the Greater Manchester Region. 25000 further leaflets have now been distributed
• Professor Louis Appleby, Mental Health Tsar for England, described the show as: "absolutely outstanding. Though I have seen a range of effective arts for health work, I have not come across anything of this depth and quality, where art is used so persuasively and accessibly as an advocate for caring for our emotional wellbeing. 'Now, Salford Art Gallery and Salford University Over 20 Start students were involved with the production of • Exhibition of Crowning Glories ‘Create Space’ at Salford Art Gallery resulted in creation of collaborative mental health awareness campaign with Salford University. Viewing figures are estimated at 25000 to date
• Start students and staff supported Salford University Equality and Diversity Department to run the University’s first ever Healthy Head Fair. We offered workshops in mask making, a stand, and mental health self- help literature including ‘Create Space’ booklets, and Brain Manuals acquired by Start through connections with the Arts Council of England (ACE) • Start students worked with staff to compile, develop and test a range of health- enhancing creative exercises. These are published on-line as RHS (Tatton Park Show) our new publication ‘Create We showed the ‘Inner Word’ Space’. garden, made by Start, and our
stand was packed with mental Co-published with Salford Art health information and self-help Gallery, the publication was leaflets. We ran the stand with the launched by Mike Farrar, Chief help of students and staff Executive of the Strategic members from across Community health Authority North West, Living. and Mike Garrity O.B.E., Pro- Vice-Chancellor of Salford University.
Manchester Art Gallery We are working towards a new partnership with Manchester Art Gallery to roll-out the model of working successfully established in the ‘Now, Voyager’ programme
Manchester Adult Education Service Start is supporting Start students to attend and engage with mainstream classes at Greenheys Over the 5 days of the show, we Adult Learning Centre. We also engaged more than 1500 visitors in offer occasional supervision to discussions about mental health MAES tutors involved. issues, gave away 100s of self-care leaflets and books (donated by the National Institute for Adults in Continuing Education and ACE) and Developing a research/ overall attracted 18000 visitors. evidence-base The RHS who offered the space free of charge, awarded Start a • We have taken part in the Certificate of Commendation for Anglia Polytechnic University its mental health promotion work and University of Central at the show. Lancashire research into Arts and Mental Health
• ‘Now, Voyager’ - Our own action research project’s findings have been published in the peer-reviewed ‘A Life in the Day’ journal, Community Care Magazine, and on Government/NHS web sites
Publications Start has had a range of articles in national publications this year, including a quarterly column in Communicator Mental Healthcare magazine. For further details see Appendix 2. We have also attracted positive coverage for the Trust in the Manchester Evening News, Metro News, I-Matter magazine, • Progressive steps for moving numerous website newspages, and on: knowledge bank status for have given interviews on AllFM advanced students Radio, BBC Radio Manchester, and • Home-working protocol – Channel M TV. structured sessional contact by phone for students experiencing temporary Fieldwork student difficulties travelling to Start placements Start’s OT has successfully Awards completed her first fieldwork placement and has undertaken the Start’s project ‘Now, Voyager’ was first step of her accredited short-listed for the Greater Fieldwork Educator training Manchester NHS awards. The RHS awarded Start a Certificate of Commendation for Staff skills development our Inner Word garden and our Skills developed during the last innovative mental health year include: promotion work. • Volunteer supervision Wendy Teall Jan 07 • Fieldwork student placement supervision (OT) Acknowledgements • Project management • Multi-disciplinary team working Start would like to thank the following for reproduction of their artworks: HOS (joint working between group, M.B. Cohen, Marilyn Hashim, artists/OTs/Day Centre Benjamin Ramsey, T. Cole, Jim No. 7, all staff/clinical teams including who helped make Inner Word, our models CMHTs and staff at Edale and Angela Foley & Trevor Ramsey, and HOS) others wishing to remain anonymous. Thanks to the photographers Simon • Mental health promotion Jones, Cathy Fortune, Tamzin Forster • Gallery collaboration and Lawrie Perrins. Thanks to all Trust staff who have helped and supported the • Reflective practice exercises: Start team. Also a big thankyou to all Analysis of journal articles, and Start staff who have worked so hard this reflective diaries year, and to services users who have assisted at our events, and congratulations to all who use our Start in-house policies services for their many achievements.
Start has developed a number of new in-house policies and pro- formas to standardise practise and raise quality standards. These include: • Session notes pro-forma Service users as volunteers – • Manchester Mental Health guidelines to confidentiality in and Social Care Trust information sharing Appendix Start Manchester: Health Promotion Activity 2006
Date Venue/Activity Audience figures January Launch of Now, Voyager Exhibition Whitworth Art Gallery 200
Jan - Now, Voyager Exhibition June Whitworth Art Gallery 42,000
Guided Tours of Exhibition 25 Whitworth Art Gallery
Workshops 25 Whitworth Art Gallery
Workshop for mental health service users in Bury 10 Whitworth Art Gallery
July Inner Word Garden RHS Show Tatton 18,000
Annual Occupational Therapy for Learning 50 Oct Disability Conference, Blackpool – lecture about Artists and OTs joint-working
Oct - Dec Crowning Glories Exhibition Salford Art Gallery 24,495
October Healthy Head Fair Salford University 80
November Art and Well being Seminar – the work of Start 35 Salford Art Gallery
December “Create Space” Launch Salford Art Gallery 45
December Workshop Salford Art Gallery 6
Health Promotion via Journal Articles and special publications
Publication Article Estimated Readership Toolkit website Mental health awareness Not yet launched training pack for artists online
Growth Point – the Inner Word Garden – spreading 3,600 Journal of Social and the word about mental health Therapeutic Horticulture A Life in the Day, Voyage on a Painted Sea – the 1,000 Volume 10 action research project ‘Now, Voyager’
Keyworker Lifestyle , Inner Word Garden – RHS 25,000 Issue 4 Show Tatton – the work of MMHSCT
Communicator Mental Magazine published quarterly - Healthcare Magazine Start’s regular column 8,000
Community Care Article about Start and ‘Now, 400,000 Magazine Voyager’ Exhibition
Do Something Self-help leaflet created by 40,000 Creative – Its Good for Start Manchester your Mental Health
Create Space booklet Self-help pack available as Unknown but at paper copies and least 500 paper downloadable from University copies distributed Salford website and Start Manchester website
1 in 4 book published A book promoting the creative 10,000 circulated by NIACE (National work of people with mental Institute for Adults in health needs, in which Start Continuing Education) students’ work was featured
Artsnet playing cards A promotional pack of cards 1200 distributed highlighting connections nationally across between culture and health, for arts, health and which Start’s work was culture networks selected as an example of best practice in the region
Other promotional literature/events
CAHHM: Centre for Arts and Use of Start’s artwork on website Humanities and Health and pages Medicine – Durham University
CSIP report Use of Start’s artwork within publication
MMHSCT Annual report Use of Start’s artwork in report
CAHHM publication Bioethics and Use of Start’s artwork for the cover the Humanities: Attitudes and illustration Perceptions
Interview for AllFM radio Interview about the work of Start, with Start student and Start Lead Artist
Interview with BBC Radio Interview with Start Lead Artist and Manchester Start Ceramics Artist about ‘Crowning Glories’, ‘Create Space’ and the work of Start
Interview for Channel M TV Interview at Salford Art Gallery with Start Lead Artist about ‘Crowning Glories’ and the work of Start
Various newspaper articles in MEN Articles about ‘Now, Voyager’ x 2, and Metro News ‘Crowning Glories’ x 1