Case Study: Murmurations

Introduction

Over the last 5 years we have been developing our Arts for Health programmes with key project partners: Ty Canna Mental Health Outreach Services in Cardiff, Ysgol Gyfun Plas Mawr (a Welsh-medium secondary school in Cardiff), the Ukrainian support group in The Vale of Glamorgan, Barry Hospital (Sam Davies Ward older peoples’ acute rehabilitation unit), and The Vale of Glamorgan Mental Health Outreach Team. Our year-long Murmurations project enabled us to build upon and develop these important Arts for Health partnerships and projects and also helped us to reach new organisations, areas and artists, by running training courses, networking and outreach sessions to reach the most vulnerable and diverse participants in our communities, engaging people through the arts. We offered a Creativity for Wellbeing programme with each of the partner organisations, increasing wellbeing, self-awareness and self-esteem and creating safe and supportive environments to stimulate positive change.

The Challenge

The Health and Wellbeing challenges we aimed to address in our project were identified with our key partners and co-produced with their service users to create the project, and were adapted during the project as we worked with new partners to ensure that the project was relevant and meeting their challenges. The areas identified included: Mental Health and Inequalities: Tackling loneliness and social isolation, working with and connecting vulnerable and under- represented people living in Cardiff and The Vale of Glamorgan. Physical Health/ Wellbeing: The need for physical health and wellbeing opportunities, encouraging participants to engage and be more active. Staff and Volunteers' Wellbeing: Training for staff/volunteers' wellbeing for health and social care partners.

The Approach

Timescale: Murmurations was a year-long project, running from April 2024 to May 2025. Weekly Creativity for Wellbeing sessions were facilitated with and for our partners and groups, with additional exhibitions of work created and training sessions and sharing events. Participants: We worked with service users and vulnerable people referred to us by our partner organisations, Ty Canna Mental Health Outreach Services in Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan Mental Health Team, Ukrainian Support Group in The Vale of Glamorgan, Ysgol Gyfun Plas Mawr in Cardiff, Sam Davies Ward in Barry Hospital, and Velindre Cancer Centre in Cardiff. Outputs: The artworks, performances, workshops, training sessions we delivered included: 4 x art exhibitions 10 x events 6 x live performances 2 x murals 2 x film and animations 4 x training courses 4 x group sharing events 240 x workshop sessions Engagement: The artists and participants involved were: 2160 participants 9 artists 12 volunteers

The Impact

We aimed to offer high quality Creativity for Wellbeing sessions to our partners in health and social care by offering semi open groups to their client groups in music, art, creative writing, photography, video, movement, mindfulness. Participants were referred to us by our partners to help some of their most vulnerable participants to participate in the sessions and provide safeguarding and support. Our workshops increased wellbeing, self-awareness, self-esteem and self-confidence through expressive arts. We offered a Creativity for Wellbeing programme with each of the partner organisations, creating safe and supportive environments to stimulate positive change for the participants. Creative arts activities encouraged participants to explore and express themselves free of judgement, to have fun and think creatively and to improve their communication and social skills. We reviewed and assessed this project using reflective review meetings, sharing circles, feedback from the artwork, listening to volunteers and partner organisations and with interviews and filming with participants, professional assessment by the project team, feedback from our partners, network meetings and assessments. Partner organisations want to work with us further. New contacts have been made to develop this work further, widening our reach and offering more Creativity for Wellbeing opportunities to more vulnerable people and groups in Cardiff and The Vale of Glamorgan.

Lessons Learned

In this project we learnt that: It is important to connect with and train/share knowledge with the support workers and managers of partner organisations as well as with the arts facilitators and volunteers in our person-centred creativity approach. This enables a shared approach, increases safe-guarding support, and fosters a wider understanding of the positive benefits (for both service users and the partner staff) of the work. That there is often not enough value given to building new partners for real and mutually supportive partnerships and networks to connect arts/health/wellbeing into the future. Celebrating and sharing the work is important with participants (if they want to) with their friends/ supporters and the wider community.

The Legacy

We have built a local and more diverse network of supportive partners linked to the shared aims of Creativity for Wellbeing. This will mean the project has future sustainability, connecting with shared agendas and local programmes. In a welcoming and supportive environment, and from the feedback from this project, we know that our participants, given a range of creative opportunities and support, will build their recovery, growth and personal development. We have created a strong network of future funders, volunteers and community partners.

Website and Social Media Links

www.breathecreative.co.uk https://www.breathecreative.co.uk/2024/10/our-art-cart-at-velindre-cancer-centre/ https://www.breathecreative.co.uk/2024/10/hope4change-music-project/ https://www.breathecreative.co.uk/2024/04/talking-points-murals-installed-at-barry-hospital/ https://www.breathecreative.co.uk/2025/07/arts-council-of-wales-funded-murmurations- project-celebration/ https://www.facebook.com/breathecreativewales

Contact Details

Alex Bowen Director Breathe Creative admin@breathecreative.co.uk

Tags: arts, arts for health, arts in health, creativity for wellbeing, physical health, wellbeing, creativity, co-production, Health and Social Care, vulnerable people, mental health, cancer, loneliness and social isolation, refugees, Ukrainian, under-represented people, music, visual arts, therapeutic arts, Welsh language, older people, young people, Dementia

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