Funding will give people with mental health conditions access to arts activities

A series of projects which aim to give people living with mental health conditions access to arts activities are to receive funding of £400,115.

Grants of up to £20,000 for 23 projects have been announced by the Arts Council Northern Ireland (ACNI) and the Baring Foundation with funding from the National Lottery.

The Arts and Mental Health Partnership Programme will see arts organisations linking up with specialist mental health service providers to deliver projects that will target people experiencing higher levels of disadvantage or exclusion, including those living with mental health issues, such as addictions and eating disorders.

It provides training and specialist mental health support for participating artists as well as supporting the community projects.

The Seacourt Print Workshop in Bangor, Co Down, has been awarded £15,140 to work with Action Mental Health/New Horizons Create Connect to provide a safe space for vulnerable people to engage in creativity through printmaking.

The Millenium Forum in Londonderry has been awarded £17,954 to partner with Arc Fitness on a youth-led drama and health project. The project is aimed at young people aged 11–18 who will engage in weekly workshops in drama, singing and dance.

The Armagh Tyrone Wellbeing Collective has been awarded £13,600 to deliver holistic health and wellbeing programmes including group initiatives, retreats and one-to-one support initiatives.

The Ulster Orchestra Society has been awarded £18,048 to partner with Steps and Glasgowbury to deliver workshops to engage adults living with mental health needs in Draperstown and surrounding rurally isolated communities in Mid Ulster.

Youth Action has been awarded £15,982 to partner with a range of organisations, including Belfast Met to deliver a programme engaging with young people through a series of performing arts workshops and mini festivals. It will be aimed at young people with moderate to severe disabilities, who have been identified as living with a mental health condition.

Lorraine Calderwood from the Arts Council, said: “At the heart of this initiative is a desire to deliver meaningful arts-based projects to some of the most vulnerable members of our society.”

David Cutler, director of the Baring Foundation, commented: “This is part of our wider funding partnership with ACNI around arts and mental health that includes a pioneering strand of work on the mental health of artists, an occupational group at high risk of poor mental health.

“We hope this programme will have much to share with other parts of the UK.”

The full list of awards is available at artscouncil-ni.org/funding.