Its that time of year when we look back at the work thats happened this year and say wow! What a busy, productive and fruitful year! 

There has been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing this year. Firstly our new Director Oliver joined us in January, and our interim Director Karl reverted back to Chair of Creativity Works. Trustees Geraldine and Abbi stepped down along with our Chair of many years Jo, and we have recently welcomed Sarah and Gareth to the Board. We bade a sad farewell to staff members David and Mags and a cheerful hello to Kate, our new co|Create Programme Manager and Stuart, our new Finance Administrator.

Our work has continued to be recognised nationally this year through being highly commended at the LankellyChase Digital Empowerment Awards and National Charity of the Year nominee for the Care UK Wellbeing Foundation.

We have been profiled at various events including the Arts, Health and Wellbeing symposium at Edgehill University, Lancashire and the Public Health England Mental Health regional conference.

Our key projects in mental health have grown from strength to strength in 2014 alongside new work including Home Service - working with elders in care home settings, Ways and Means - creating a communication tool for adults with learning disabilities, and facilitating a creative consultation with the IF group as part of the Golden Key project in Bristol.
 

None of this would have been possible without the collaborative working with our many wonderful partners, the much appreciated and valuable hard work from our artists and volunteers, the essential and much valued involvement of our funders and supporters, the enthusiasm and creativity of our participants, and the dedication and smiles from our trustees and staff. 
 

So a BIG THANKS goes out to EVERYONE for a brilliant 2014 and here's to another exciting year ahead!

From the Creativity Works Team

P.s. It's just a shame that Camilla and Stuart were not here to pose with us under the tree on Tuesday..but they don't get away that easily! I managed to snap them with their santa hats in the office this afternoon.

P.p.s. Do have a go at our Christmas quiz, lovingly created by Kate, to have a chance at winning a print from the wonderful Fresh Art at Hillview project! See below to enter.
 

"Feeling quite excited about the project. There's all these lights going off. Brilliant."

"Makes me feel that anything is possible."

"What a brilliant day, loads of fuel for thought."

Participants at a Creativity Works training day held in November in Bath expressed their enthusiasm for working together to improve the lives of people in residential care homes at the start of a three year arts and elder care project.

Through taster creative sessions (encompassing poetry, dance, iPad use, singing and reminiscence) and informative activities about dementia and life in a care home, care home workers and artists came together to share perspectives and plan how to work together to give older people in residential settings more of a voice.

Participants explored the power of the senses by sniffing fresh herbs; played with body and memory by dancing the conga; wrote collective poetry; played dementia bingo; explored their body memories through movement and dance; made pottery on an iPad; and sung old time favourites while being served a vintage tea. They also learnt more about the project and discussed how to document activities, link with local communities and change the culture in care homes permanently.

The one-day training course launched Bath and North East Somerset's delivery of the Home Service project, taking place across Cornwall, Devon and Cornwall, led by Arts for Health Cornwall and funded by the Baring Foundation and Arts Council England. The idea is to explore new creative ways of engaging people living in care homes, and for the care homes and organisations involved to share learning, develop best practice guidelines and create a pool of arts practitioners skilled at working in care home settings.

Locally, Creativity Works is working with Brunel Care in Bristol and Manor Farm Care Home in Radstock. In the first few months of the project, visual artist Hannah Carding is working in Manor Farm on the theme of tableware, rekindling residents' sense of ceremonies around eating together. In Robinson House in Bristol, visual artist Ali Brown is engaging residents through the theme of radio, as a vehicle for storytelling and reminiscence.

The 18 participants at the training day came away with new insights into the role the arts can play in improving elders' quality of life, better informed about the project and motivated to make the most of the opportunities ahead.

"I think this project is going to start off small with a little flame and it's going to just burst like a firework." 

Many thanks to Skills for Care, who donated �450 towards the day and St Johns Trust for the venue.

The power of visual art to broaden horizons and enhance mood was highlighted in a recent project at Hillview Psychiatric Unit in Bath's Royal United Hospital, which took the theme of the four seasons as its inspiration.
 

Members of the artist collective Tiny Monuments were commissioned, through a series of painting workshops, to create new works of art for the hospital space, to improve the atmosphere at Hillview.
 

The thinking behind the project, initiated by Tiny Monuments member Beverley Ferguson in conjunction with Lee Rawlings, Involvement Co-ordinator at Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership (AWP), was that inpatients deserved a more stimulating environment than just the "faded Monet print" adorning the walls.
 

Supported by Creativity Works, and with funding the group secured themselves from St Mungo's and Arts and Health South West, artist Jenny Lynn Thomas was employed to run six painting workshops, including opening it out more broadly to newer potential artists who had an interest in supporting mental health and well being through creativity. The workshops proved very popular, and two groups were then set up.

"I absolutely loved it .... It was very interesting. I would highly recommend it.... I progressed to doing my own project." These were just some of the comments from participants at the workshops.
 

Their achievement was celebrated in an official opening at the Hillview unit in autumn where paintings from the workshops were put on display, and which was attended by senior staff such as AWP's Bath and North East Somerset Clinical Director Dr Bill Bruce-Jones.
 

As a result, some members of Tiny Monuments have gone on to develop their work. The group is looking at possible further exhibitions and workshops in Bath.
 

"It's nice to have made a contribution," a member said. "Since we've done it, they've redecorated the unit with new sofas and a new colour paint."

Other News...

Read all about the Fresh Art project from the originator of the idea, Nat, in the article "Every picture tells a story" on the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership website: http://bit.ly/1yUb8BP
Recently tweeted about by Stephen Fry, Stan Frith is hoping to raise �25,000 for Depression Alliance with 100% of the proceeds from his latest book "behind the smile", in memory of his son Jason who died after a 4 year battle with the illness. The book is a collection of beautiful poems and well worth a read.  www.justgiving.com/BehindtheSmile

Check out their lovely bug house made last week by the Creativity and the Potting Shed group! For more information on the group and other wellbeing groups we support visit:  http://www.creativityworks.org.uk/what-we-do/for-mental-health/