Case Study: Piece by Piece

Introduction

Piece by Piece was a four year Comic Relief-funded partnership project with Newport Mind, Literature Wales and Community Youth supporting families and young people with mental health issues, especially those from low-income or BAME backgrounds or who are LGBTQ+. The project saw writers, artists and Newport Mind staff partnered to create poems, films and music projects to support those families. Its creative aim was to address trauma and reduce the impact of poor mental health by sharing experiences through activities such as spoken word poetry, digital stories, drama, illustration and creative writing. Comic Relief received a total of 396 applications world-wide in 2020 for Bridging the Gaps funding stream. Only 9 projects were awarded funding in the UK. Piece by Piece was the only project in Wales.

The Challenge

Diagnosable mental health problems in children and young people are rising, with 10% aged 5-16 years having a clinically diagnosable mental health problem [Mental Health Foundation] and half of mental ill-health beginning by age 14 [WHO]. In the UK, around 68% of women and 57% of men with mental health problems are parents [Mental Health Foundation]. 32% of families in Newport are in poverty, reaching 44% in Pillgwenlly and Lliswerry wards [Nomis]. In May 2019, 4 in 10 children in Newport were living in poverty [Loughborough University]. This co-produced programme aimed to provide innovative services, with preventative interventions to reduce times of crisis and offer support. Newport Mind provided one-to-one support for individuals and Literature Wales, creative interventions.

The Approach

Piece by Piece recruited 15 professional and 5 early career artists from across Wales through a public callout and interview panel. The early career artists were offered shadowing opportunities on projects with professional artists as mentors. 90% of artists involved in the project received I-act mental health and well-being training. Project offers varied from one-off taster sessions during the COVID pandemic from 2020-2021, to a 6 week creative Resilience Programme co-produced by Newport Mind staff and artists from 2022 – 2023 and a 6-month weekly artist residency in Bassaleg High School from 2022-2023. The programme delivered 120 workshops, 10 creative projects, 24 one-to-one sessions and had 373 participants. Outputs included: 1 performance piece 1 mural 3 booklets 5 songs 4 documentary media clips 3 documentary films 1 animated Welsh language poetry film 1 digital light painted poetry film 1 poster poem & postcards A Piece by Piece resource was also created as a legacy of the project for other artists and organisations to use to creatively support young people with mental health issues.

The Impact

For the creative element of the project, a logic model evaluation was used. Feedback and data was gathered from participants, practitioners and the partner organisation for each project. Partner staff were present at all workshops supporting the artist and participants and to assess and monitor progress. Monthly steering group meetings and a Service Level Agreement provided clear direction and agreed outcomes for the project from the start. Representation and equality and Health and Well-being are key strategic priorities for Literature Wales, and this project aimed to support Young People from diverse backgrounds to gain confidence in expressing their emotions through the arts. Findings: 100% of artists reported an increase in skills and confidence in delivering workshops with young people with mental health issues 95% of young people reported that their mental health had improved 100% of artists and Newport Mind staff reported skill-share exchange by working collaboratively to develop and deliver the programme ""I've enjoyed coming into a room where I can express myself and just talk to people" Young Person "This should be in every school. All pupils should have the opportunity to be creative and write about how they feel as a self-therapy, a positive coping mechanism because it’s really powerful and can help people." Newport Mind staff "As a teacher, I learnt SO much. It was a perfect blend of mental health support mixed with the creativity of poetry and illustration." Teacher The full cost of the project was £541, 744.48 and Literature Wales received £40,152.82 to deliver creative projects. 82% of the funds were paid to artists as fees and expenses.

Lessons Learned

1) COVID 19 impacted project delivery adversely. Young People were reluctant to engage with new creative online project during the pandemic 2) Projects held in schools were most effective and efficient in delivering creative activity 3) Shadowing artist model was unsuccessful as all projects were already co-delivered by two artists alongside Newport Mind or Community House staff 4) Importance of ensuring co-delivery for artists and commitment of partner staff to support well-being of all involved 5) Fair pay for artists for all aspects of project

The Legacy

1) A Piece by Piece Resource designed to be available to artists and organisations as a template to deliver a creative project with young people with mental health issues 2) Ongoing relationship with Newport Mind to continue creative activity in partnership 3) Skill share - Newport Mind staff learned new skills working alongside artists and vice versa 4) Increased number of artists upskilled to deliver creative writing activities with young people with mental health issues

Website and Social Media Links

https://www.literaturewales.org/our-projects/piece-by-piece/ @LitWales https://www.instagram.com/llencymru_litwales/ https://www.facebook.com/LlenCymruLitWales/ https://newportmind.org/ https://www.facebook.com/newportmindcharity @NewportMind

Contact Details

Louise Richards post@literaturewales.org

Tags: Literature, spoken word, performance, music, visual arts. Wellbeing mental health children & young people community & school

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