Photo: Ruth Davey
Project partners
See With Fresh Eyes has been a great partnership project with Look Again, Gloucester Cathedral, and the University of Gloucestershire delivering it, with support from Create Gloucestershire and Llanthony Secunda Priory. The Nelson Trust, Headway Gloucestershire, Maggie’s Cheltenham, Longfield Community Hospice have referred people into the project. None of it would have been possible without the generous grant awarded by the BUPA Foundation.
Here, the partners explain why they were keen to be part of the project and what it’s meant to them and their clients/service users.
Look Again
Look Again helps people to slow down, look, and look again… to see their life, work and world with fresh eyes. We use a tried and tested creative, accessible and low-tech approach to mindful photography - a blend of photography and mindfulness - together with being in nature to help people improve their mindset, mental health and wellbeing, build resilience in a fast changing world, gain clarity, focus and motivation, as well as tell their authentic visual story.
We are based in Stroud, Gloucestershire, and work with individuals and organisations all over the UK and around the world. We run regular online 4-week courses for individuals and practitioners, deliver partnership projects like this one with not-for-profits and the public sector, and offer corporate wellbeing in the workplace programmes. A new Mindful Photography Facilitator Training Programme for creative practitioners and wellbeing professionals starts in 2021. Our methodology has been created as a result of the lived experience of our Director Ruth Davey, and is evidenced by the University of Gloucestershire. A free 7-day activity resource is available on our website. See more about the process here.
We have loved delivering See with Fresh Eyes with these amazing organisations and people. It is a joy to see all the hard work and creativity come together in the form of this online exhibition. Most importantly, it’s been a privilege to play a small part in helping to improve the lives of the participants, especially at this uncertain and stressful time. Thanks to all the partners for such a great team effort. And huge gratitude to all people taking part in the courses and this exhibition for your creativity, commitment, and contribution.
Contact: Ruth Davey, Founder & Director ruth@look-again.org 07789 958895
Create Gloucestershire
Create Glos was delighted to champion Look Again's application to the BUPA Foundation and provide background support and advocacy as the project has unfolded. Our commitment to arts and health practice goes back to our earliest days. As part of our original 8 point manifesto in 2012 we described our ambition as: "arts and culture prescribed as commonly as medicine, providing a preventative and therapeutic solution for those with health and emotional challenges." We continue to pursue this agenda today by investing time and resources to support the arts and culture sector to meet the health needs of communities through high quality, co-produced arts opportunities.
Covid 19 has disrupted arts and health practice just as it has for every sector and community in the UK. It has highlighted and exacerbated health inequalities which are a priority for our Create Health agenda moving forwards. We have been inspired and encouraged by the upswell of creative energy we have seen through Covid 19 as people cope with isolation, anxiety, ill health, and boredom. We have noticed how quickly people have worked out at a street level how to care for each other and ensure people get what they need. This combination of creativity and community has huge potential that we will continue to nurture as we expand our network of place based alliances and invest in a new network of Create Health spaces that will provide a safe, creative health offer to people as they navigate Covid, recover and rebuild their lives.
www.creategloucestershire.co.uk
Contact: Jay Haigh, Company Manager 07897 121236
Gloucester Cathedral
The Cathedral’s headline vision is to be ‘In tune with Heaven, in touch with daily life’, and this project embodies our key social responsibility priority to ‘Use our assets and partnerships to make a positive contribution to our local community - working with individuals and groups to support mental health and wholeness’.
Our main role in the project is to assist the delivery team with a showcase exhibition and provide administrative, marketing and networking support. Our partners, service users, visitors staff and volunteers will be delighted to virtually visit this inspiring online exhibition and in 2021, see some of the incredible photographs in person on display in the Cathedral. For us, exhibitions are much more than a display of artwork, they are about telling the story of individuals: documenting their journey, their aspirations, their challenges, celebrating them as people and their passions through their artwork.
Crucially exhibitions like this one provides a platform for others to draw inspiration from, relate to participants and potentially seek help for difficulties they may be experiencing in their own lives. In this case physical and mental health. By ensuring we host and promote exhibitions like this one we can support our community voice – through the participants who display their artwork and through the messages those who see the artwork take away.
In 2021 we will be launching a further programme of online and onsite courses, activities and events. For the most up to date information we recommend signing up for our e newsletter and following us on social media @EngageGlosCath (Twitter) @GloucesterCathedral (Facebook and Instagram).
www.gloucestercathedral.org.uk
Contact: Helen Jeffrey, Community Engagement and Social Responsibility Manager 01452 528095 helen.jeffrey@gloucestercathedral.org.uk
University of Gloucestershire (School of Natural & Social Sciences and HERA Lab)
I got very excited about working on this project because of the innovative way that Look Again combines photography, being in nature, and the practice of mindfulness. Having worked in the field of social prescribing, as well as arts for health and nature for health, the work carried out by Look Again is a natural synergy of my interests. I have a very strong belief that what Look Again provides is extremely unique, and offers a magic combination of activities that we know support health and wellbeing. The added element of concern for the environment, and ecological responsibility, is a direct core component of the HERA Lab that I have created at the University of Gloucestershire where our research seeks to understand more about health and wellbeing, but also how these can be supported in a sustainable and environmentally conscientious way.
The insights we have gained into the programmes that Look Again offers have added some really important knowledge for the field in social prescribing. This information has come full circle into contributing to intervention design in co-produced programmes for health and wellbeing. We have also piloted using one of Look Again’s programmes with our students in one of our undergraduate modules in psychology that specifically looks at wellbeing. The students were able to learn a great deal about the process of community-based wellbeing programmes by trying out some of these activities and discussing with Look Again.
The work we did with Look Again over a year ago constituted a report, and we are currently collecting data for another report relating to this project, and subsequent academic publications. We have presented knowledge from our work with Look Again at conferences that focus on public health and wellbeing, posters can be seen on our website.
Contact: Dr Rachel Sumner, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, HERA Lab Director rsumner@glos.ac.uk
The Hub Academy, Nelson Trust
The project fits into our organisational focus as it supports our clients with their mental health whilst also giving them an opportunity to express themselves creatively. This is crucial for our clients who come to us to recover from trauma and to help rebuild their lives in recovery from addiction. Many of our clients experience a high level of anxiety, depression and lack of self esteem. This project directly supported them with this and helped to build resilience whilst introducing a new avenue for self expression.
Our clients developed their confidence and skill around photography, they developed the tools to slow down and look closely at the environment around them, they were encouraged to look at others work and give feedback. They gained a sense of self esteem through having their work exhibited.
The Hub Academy is a learning centre providing educational, creative and practical courses for our clients in residential treatment at the Nelson Trust. Our ambition is to make the Hub Academy a thriving community space where local people can learn new skills and meet others to break isolation and forge connections. We want to welcome members of the community to join Adult Education day/evening classes, ‘On prescription’ courses or hire our spaces to meet as a group. Thanks to a Thriving Communities grant we will be launching a new community textiles project in December to create a collaborative wall hanging on the theme of ‘Breaking down the wall of isolation’. Anyone interested in taking part can contact us. During Covid 19 our programme of courses has been slightly reduced. However we are keen to develop this in 2021 and welcome any enquiries from the public.
Contact: Beanie Cooke 01453 889731/07584 310531
Headway Gloucestershire
Our mission is to provide services that make a positive difference to the lives of acquired brain injury survivors and their families in Gloucestershire. Our services include a centre based enablement service, an outreach support service called Community Links and a peer based support service for those who support a loved one who has endured a brain injury called Supporting Families.
A brain injury can affect every aspect of a survivor’s life – it can cause physical, sensory, cognitive and behavioural difficulties. Many of the survivors we work with tell us they feel misjudged by their communities and that this is a barrier to joining new activities. An important part of our mission is to raise awareness so that we can minimise the misjudgement, and to find community opportunities that provide a safe opportunity for survivors to enjoy new challenges, develop new skills, build confidence and participate in new social groups. This project was a great opportunity and survivors from our Enablement and Community Links services welcomed the opportunity to take part.
Survivors who have attended the Look Again sessions at Headway Gloucestershire tell us they have found an increased confidence over several weeks to share and discuss their ideas and art projects with others in a group. Some survivors have told us they have an increased insight into the positive affect that photography, art and nature can have on maintaining their own wellbeing and that previous photographic or other artistic passions have been reignited. Other survivors have told us the Look Again group has provided them with new opportunities to express themselves. Each week, we have observed the positive impact the Look Again group sessions have had increasing attendees general confidence and wellbeing.
www.headwaygloucestershire.org.uk
Contact: Lewis Koprowski 01452 312713 admin@headwaygloucestershire.org.uk
Maggie’s Cheltenham
Maggie's Cheltenham were offered and accepted the opportunity to take part in the mindful photography project to offer another approach to helping improve people's mental health and wellbeing. At times we all face feelings of anxiety, low mood when faced with challenges in life. However, for those diagnosed or affected by cancer these feelings are often exacerbated. Further to this has been the COVID pandemic which has also added to feelings of fear and isolation.
Maggie's ethos for those living with and affected by cancer recognises that buildings and environments themselves can be part of the healing process as well as support that is offered in the centres. The mindful photography project uses techniques to help reduce anxiety, slowing the mind and helping induce a sense of calmness, helping to improve resilience. This was something that centre visitors could benefit from. Although originally planned to run the course at Maggie's Centre itself, this wasn't possible because of COVID 19. However, it worked well utilising video links which helped people to connect with each other whilst in the comfort of their own homes. By using photography as a medium to look at everyday things in a different light, things that you don't normally notice actually seeing them 'through fresh eyes' and fully appreciating them. It seemed to slow everything down giving a sense of calmness and serenity.
The centre visitors seemed to benefit from the sessions, in making time for themselves and helping that sense of calmness. Also appreciating what was already around them to help utilise mindful photography from their own surroundings.
Maggie's is a charity providing free cancer support and information to anyone who has been diagnosed or affected by cancer in centres across the UK and online.
Contact for the Centre in Cheltenham: 01242 250611 or Cheltenham@maggiescentres.org
Longfield Community Hospice
Longfield Community Hospice offers services for those with life limiting conditions, their families, and also for those who have been bereaved. We have a range of services which are currently offered over the phone, video calls or through video groups. Our current services are detailed on our website and we also provide support and advice.
We were pleased to work in partnership on this project as we often use creative work with the patients and family members that we support and know from experience what benefits this brings. We were keen to experience a mindful approach to photography that was new to us, but was offered as a tried and tested format. As we needed to move to virtual offerings for services during the pandemic, it was also helpful to experience this to help improve our own groups. It has given us valuable ideas of things that we could offer in a similar way in the future to our patients and carers.
Participants found a smaller group helpful, as it allowed an opportunity for people to get to know one another. People found that they could take the techniques that they had been taught, and use them at times when they needed to. We certainly know that some attending have continued to find that they can take real note of the world around them, and at times will take a photo of something of beauty to share with those who are important to them. The group helped people to recognise the need to take time to focus on themselves, and gave them the motivation to do this.
Contact: Alison Worsfield 01453 886868 Day.Services@longfield.org.uk or Alison.Worsfield@longfield.org.uk
Llanthony Secunda Priory
Llanthony Secunda Priory is an independent charity, run by the Llanthony Secunda Priory Trust, who look after this scheduled monument with its Grade I listed buildings and structures. The restored buildings are used as classrooms and exhibition spaces, as well as being available for weddings, functions and meeting hire. The grounds are free to access, and also host a number of (community) events throughout the year.
Llanthony Secunda Priory joined the See with Fresh Eyes project in collaboration with Gloucester Cathedral, and as part of our Llanthropology project, funded by Historic England. This is creating community activities, specifically aimed at engaging and inspiring local audiences during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The spacious grounds and historic structures and buildings are used to create rewarding experiences for local people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities. It focuses on bringing people together in a unique and inspiring environment, promoting wellbeing for all. This linked in perfectly with the photography for mental health and wellbeing workshops.
Contact: Stefanie van Stokkom Stefanie.vanstokkom@llanthonysecunda.org