About Well Newcastle Gateshead

Well Newcastle Gateshead is one of thepathfinders of Well North, a PublicHealth England funded initiative across10 areas in the North of England toimprove the health of the poorestpeople fastest. We are managed byBlue Stone Consortium, a grouping ofover forty voluntary and communityorganisations in Gateshead andNewcastle and funded by Public HealthEngland, Newcastle City Council andGateshead Council. The Well Newcastle Gateshead ArtsFund was established in 2018 tosupport initiatives that improve thehealth and wellbeing of our communitiesby using engagement in arts andcultural activities as a catalyst forpositive change. We want to explorehow we can use local assets andencourage sustainable relationshipsbetween artists, community, voluntaryand health organisations to deliverpositive health and wellbeing outcomes. We are focused on 4 areas withinNewcastle and Gateshead. In Fellingand Inner West Newcastle, our focus ison children aged 2-7 and their familieswith the aim of improving schoolreadiness. In Byker and Chopwell, weare working to tackle social isolation,poor mental health and low self-esteemin adults. For more information, visit: https://bluestoneconsortium.org.uk/our-work/well-newcastle-gateshead/

Issue 6: March 2020 Welcome to the sixth edition of the Well Newcastle GatesheadNewsletter. We hope that you find updates on Well Newcastle Gatesheaduseful, do let us know your comments and if you'd like to be part ofour mailing list by emailing vanessa@bluestoneconsortium.org.uk

Sens8tional Sens8tional is a Community Interest Company usingthe expertise of a Teacher and Occupational Therapistto help professionals and families build awareness ofhow sensory strategies can provide the foundationsfor children's learning and development. In their Sens8tional Tots pilot project, children andfamilies living in Felling will take part in weeklyactivities exploring the 8 senses through arts, crafts,music and movement to help them reach key physical,social, emotional and developmental milestonesbefore they start school. 30 people, including parents, carers and children, willbenefit from this project. Digital Voice Following from their success with the Chopwell Pastand Present project, Digital Voice will work with anintergenerational group of local residents to makecollaborative digital artwork as part of their DigitalSkills for Chopwell initiative. Participants will be involved in a LifeBooks project,where they will use iPads to make digital multimediajournals including scrapbook items, photos, music andvoice recordings of their memories. In partnership with Friends of Chopwell Park, theorganisation will also start a Community ReportingUnit, where the group will make documentary stylefilms about positive events happening in Chopwell andcoordinate an artistic public consultation about whatpeople think would make a difference in thecommunity. Workshops will take part on a weeklybasis at Chopwell Pavilion and Chopwell CommunityCentre. The results of these activities will be screened atChopwell Community Centre as part of a celebrationevent in the autumn. 170 people will benefit from thisproject. Please contact julie@digtalvoice.org.uk or call 01207566866 if you'd like to take part in this project, or knowsomeone who would benefit.

Newly Funded Projects

The Arts Fund has funded a fantastic 8 new projectssince our last newsletter in December, covering all ofour four target communities. North East Wellbeing We are very pleased to fund the second year of NorthEast Wellbeing's Curious Beasts initiative, followingthe success of their pilot project. The organisation will work with 13 schools in the InnerWest of Newcastle and Felling to engage children in aprogramme of puppetry and support work to increasetheir emotional resilience and decrease health andwellbeing issues. The project will benefit 450children, with 120 taking part in nurture sessions. The first year pilot project was featured on the BBC inJanuary, please see a clip of this great work below: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-tyne-51143669/newcastle-children-talk-mental-health-thanks-to-puppets

Seven Stories Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children'sBooks, is a charity and museum/visitor centrededicated to children's literature based in Newcastle.The charity also does outreach work, working with lessengaged children and low income families in regionalschools and community settings. In their Story Kitchen project, they will work inpartnership with community organisations in Byker toprovide out of school creative opportunities forchildren, families and community members toparticipate in children’s book inspired activity,using food as a theme. Children and adults will enjoy sharing stories, creativeactivities, cooking and eating together and will invitecommunity members to share meals. Facilitated visitsto Seven Stories will be organised as part of theactivity and participating families will be given freeannual passes to build their confidence in visiting thecentre independently. 850 people will benefit from thisproject. Creativity Works Following from their success with the Getting Startedto Make Art in Felling initiative, Creativity Works willdeliver a second strand of the project building onrelationships with local schools and communitygroups. In partnership with Friends of Felling Park, they willwork with children and families in schools andcommunity centres in Felling to create decorativeceramic planters for display at the play area in thepark. The planters will be decorated with relief tiles featuringself portraits made by children and will be filled witharomatic plants to give sensory enjoyment. Friends ofFelling Park will maintain the planters and will providecompost and plants. The project will encourage families to visit the park inorder to see the artwork and their children's faces aspart of a community. 120 people will participate in thisproject and it is hoped that it attracts 8,000 localresidents to Felling Park.

Chilli Studios/North East Wilds Following from a successful pilot project in 2018, ChilliStudios and North East Wilds will work together todeliver forestry and arts and crafts sessions to Bykerand Chopwell residents as part of their Recovery inNature project. They will deliver 6 4 hour Forest School tastersessions led by Forest School practitioners andvolunteers (previous Chilli Studios service users),where participants will learn basic bush craft skills,take part in craft activities using natural materials andcook and share food together on an open fire. There will also be monthly Forest School sessions,open to Chilli Studios members and new participantswith a mental health condition. Volunteers will begiven training opportunities (Mental Health First Aidand Forest School Level 1) to help them gain workexperience and enable them train other group leaderswho could sustain the project into the future. 62people will benefit from this project. Oasis Community Housing Oasis Community Housing is a charity based inGateshead (with services in Sunderland and London)who offer support and housing services to those facinghomelessness. In their Wellbeing Through Art project, they will deliverarts sessions, photography walks and healthy cookingand eating sessions over the course of a year fromtheir Basis centre in Gateshead to peopleexperiencing homelesness. These activities will bring hope to the lives of thevulnerable people that the charity serves and improvetheir health and wellbeing. Approximately 150 peoplewill participate in this project.

Friends Action North East Friends Action North East's Make Art, Make Friendsproject activities have been going well. Participantsenjoyed printing sessions with Northern Print andcreated a range of items which were available to buyat a "Make and Print" stall at the Grainger Marketbefore Christmas. The group will soon take part in dance sessions withLiberdade and will showcase all of the skills they havelearned at a celebration event at Byker CommunityCentre. Friends Action North East have released a videoshowcasing the group's work to date and you can viewit here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ALZ0KmVE_s&t=23s

St Marys Church Heworth/Damn Cheek As part of their Gateshead Mystery Play project, StMarys Church Heworth have partnered with DamnCheek, a theatre company, to create an inter-generational community theatre production andlaunch the Church as an arts hub for the Fellingcommunity. They will work with children from local schools andcommunity amateur actors, musicians and singers.Participants will visit the garden at the Church tolearn about gardening and plant items for the playand children will make props and costumes. The production will run for two weeks at St MarysChurch. It is hoped that the group will continue tomeet after the production ends, using the St Marysarts hub for future events. 800 people will benefitfrom this project.

Funded Project Updates

Byker ACANE (African Community Advice North East We visited ACANE's Together to Avoid Isolationproject at their centre in Raby Street in January andsaw a group of young singers perform a range ofsongs they composed together. The group have been recording their songs in a localstudio and will be performing at different venues inthe city, including Newcastle City Centre.

Inner West Newcastle The Empty Space/Reviving the Heart of the West End The Empty Space and Reviving the Heart of the WestEnd's Community Producing project has been a greatsuccess. 10 local parents received training anddelivered "Wacky Kids Days" arts sessions to 588beneficiaries (children up to the age of 12), during thesummer and after school. One of the children said thatthese sessions made it the "best summer ever". The group hope to deliver more arts sessions to localchildren in the future and have been working with localartists to further develop their skills. They put together avideo showcasing the activities delivered and theirimpact on the community, which can be viewed at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83O1txulI8g&t=256s Reviving the Heart of the West End have receivedfunding from Karbon Homes to deliver more trainingsessions to parents with support from The EmptySpace, with a focus on creative activities for childrenwith additional needs. Scotswood Garden Early Explorers sessions at Scotswood CommunityGarden resumed in early February, just in time for theSpring weather. There are great activities planned forlocal children and their families.

St Michael's Church/Skimstone Arts Skimstone Arts have successfully delivered theirReaching Out Byker project in partnership with StMichaels Cafe. 90 people, including adults andchildren, took part in a range of weekly and residencyarts and music sessions. A core group of 3 adults took part in regular sessions,producing a range of artistic work and helping toguide activities and events. The group reported anincrease in confidence, social interaction and creativeability as a result of the sessions. One of the coreparticipants, Loretta, expressed an interest inphotography and is looking at joining a college courseto develop her skills. A "Cafe of Dreams" celebration event was held at StMichaels Cafe in February, where participantsshowcased their artwork and performed songs andpoems they wrote. Artists and staff involved in theproject produced a video where they talk about itsimpact on participants and the wider community. Youcan view it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbX-P1j2m1g&t=29s Skimstone Arts have secured funding for this work tocontinue, with more sessions planned at St MichaelsCafe and at Skimstone Arts studio, for Bykerresidents.

Embedded Researcher Update My research aims to document the uptake and effectiveness different arts-based approaches toimprove wellbeing. I have now selected the fourcommunity-based projects that I will be workingclosely with. They are Scotwoood Garden's EarlyExplorers project, Skimstone Arts' Reaching OutByker project, North East Wilds' Forest Lunch Clubproject and Helix Arts' Make it Happen project. The projects were selected because they reflectdifferent approaches to arts engagement. They willenable me to explore the paths these differentapproaches could take in different wards. I'd also liketo take the opportunity to bring to your attention theMarmot Review, the follow up report to Fair Society,Healthy Lives published recently. If you haven’t seenit already, you could access free of charge at:http://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/resources-reports/marmot-review-10-years-on Dr Mihirini Sirisena

Community Conversations Inner West Newcastle Community Conversation We held our latest Community Conversation at theRiverside Community Health Project in February, with20 people in attendance. It was great to hear fromsome of our funded projects in the Inner West and todiscuss ideas for future projects and initiatives tobenefit the local community. Dr Hannah Waterson from the University ofManchester Evaluation Team was present at theevent and produced a report from feedbackquestionnaires completed by attendees. Feedbackshowed that attendees left with ideas and contactsand found the event to be informative, allowing themto build on or develop a relationship with WellNewcastle Gateshead and with a betterunderstanding of how to develop and apply forfunding for projects. Thank you to all who attended and to the RiversideCommunity Health Project for letting us use the lovelyBeecham room!

Chopwell Canny Chanters The Canny Chanters' Chopwell Arts programmekicked off with a "School of Rock" taster sessionwith local band Little Moscow in January. 26 peopletook part in the session, where they learned to playDeep Purple's "Smoke on the Water". A range of exciting taster sessions covering differentart forms are planned in coming months. Pleasecontact cannychanters@gmail.com if you'd like totake part.