Rene said: “Since attending the group things have improved significantly for me. I now interact in the group setting and can finish a group without being triggered to extreme anxiety. I can get a community transport bus on my own, I get a sense of achievement every class I attend and every project I complete. I have begun my own projects in my small workshop and feel able to show others my work which was unheard of before!”
Our unique pathway
Participants enter our pathway at hospital or community hubs through established referral routes via health clinicians, social prescribing link workers, direct GP referrals, and a wide range of support services.
The initial core Arts on Referral (AoR) intervention takes place at hospital, or community hubs based in a geographical area.
During these programmes our specialist creative health artist facilitators do more than deliver an art session. They use their expertise to create an environment where participants feel safe, comfortable and recognised. Each session and activity is tailored to the particular group and individual. The creative health facilitators are part of a community engagement network, acting in a community link worker capacity connecting participants to other activities and services in their local community.
Working with Partners Across Health, Community and Culture
We have an excellent track record of devising projects shown in high profile and accessible venues, working in partnership with cultural venues such as Arnolfini, Bristol City Museum Service, RWA, The Vestibules, Southmead Hospital, GWR trains, Knowle West Health Park, Central Children’s Centre, the Hub Lockleaze, and Greenway Centre Southmead.
We work with the Local Authority and members of NASP, to identify the areas of Bristol in greatest need, the gaps in our services and devise a plan to expand our offer citywide.
Our Pathway
Shown as an upward spiral from the initial referral into our organisation, we support individuals on their creative and wellbeing journeys.
Our Personalised Approach and On-going Support
We recognise that an individual’s health and wellbeing fluctuates, so our pathway allows people to access it at different locations, and as and when they need to. After completing their initial intervention, participants can move on to one of our flexible follow-on groups in their community or in Bristol city centre.
We also provide opportunities to engage with the wider cultural life of the city by creating
collaborative art works with participants from our other Bristol groups, exhibiting in galleries and taking part in workshops with our partner organisations.
But we are not about creating dependence; we are dedicated to providing on-going support for people that builds confidence and independence at the individual’s own pace.
Rene’s Journey Through Our Pathway
Rene was an outpatient who had attended the Pain Clinic at Southmead Hospital in Bristol. The Pain Clinic referred her to the six-week Fresh Arts on Referral programme held in the hospital community arts room. creativeShift visited the Fresh Arts group at week five to signpost participants on to groups based in their community.
Rene, along with a friend she’d made at the group, were not quite ready to leave the safe space in the community arts room at the hospital. So they attended a monthly follow-on group, facilitated by creativeShift. Over the next six months, Rene and her friend Deana were gently reintroduced to the idea of going to the community based programme; by month four Rene and Deana felt confident enough to go together and give it a try.
After completing this 18-week community-based programme, Rene and Deana moved on to a weekly peer-led follow-on group, where they contributed to a city centre exhibition of work from cultureShift groups across Bristol.
Rene then felt ready to attend our city centre follow-on group at Mshed, hosted by the museum service. By this time she had developed her own arts practice at home. She has gone on to create artworks which were shown as a solo exhibition at Arnolfini, as well as contributing to other cultureShift collaborative projects.
In a lovely development, Rene went on to train as a volunteer with the Fresh Arts Creative Companions scheme, visiting hospital patients to share an art activity and support their wellbeing. It has been a hugely positive experience for Rene, but her journey has only been possible because of the collaboration and joined-up partnerships we harness through the creativeShift pathway.
Development partners and funders across health, community and culture
City skyline
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