…all of this, and more

Did you know that this month is UK Recovery Month? I know over the past few years I’ve written quite a lot about Recoverism on this blog and maybe, just maybe, you think it's a niche area of work that perhaps doesn’t involve you? In truth - it affects us all - and just like our mental health, it’s something all of us should consider, even when we don’t see ourselves as ‘problem’ drinkers, or feel we’re misusing our drugs of choice. We’re in a world that actively pushes cheap alcohol at us from supermarkets to cheaper-than-cheap pub offers, from infant-friendly alcopops to sophisticated spirits pitched at the maturer adult. Then the words - drugs - addiction - abuse - all of them loaded, dirty and full of shame and blame. Well, how do people become ‘addicted’, and do we include our state-sanctioned repeat prescriptions in the mix? For a start - it would be helpful to reframe addiction from the language of criminality and sickness and understand it in terms of wider society and conspicuous consumption. From peer-group pressure to loneliness, drink and drugs offer a quick route to both conformity and escape - from superficially inflating our sense of being, to crushing our very essence. 

Working with people affected by substance misuse issues over this last few years has offered me deep and unexpected pleasures. Yes, pleasures. Whilst many people have stories of loss and pain, it’s been the common bonds and aspirations that have connected us. Working towards the Recoverist Manifesto and meeting all those people who have contributed so far, makes me realise that what we are undertaking helps reframe substance misuse and recovery away from the sickness industry and embeds it within a wider social justice agenda. This work is about culture change and blowing away clichéd representations of addiction and recovery. 

Manchester based Portraits of Recovery are behind a series of ongoing cultural events that includes an exhibition of artist, Melanie Manchot’s work - TWELVE - which is currently on show at the Castlefield Gallery until 1st November.

TWELVE is a major new multi-channel video installation exploring the intimate stories, rituals, repetitions and ruptures of lives spent in addiction and recovery. Inspired by the visual acuity of renowned contemporary filmmakers, the work connects and collapses individual recollections in which everyday situations, events and activities are rendered dramatic or abstract and infused with tragedy, pathos and humour.

Over the last two years Manchot has worked in dialogue with twelve people in recent recovery from substance misuse, in rehabilitation communities in Liverpool, Oxford and London. TWELVE is directly informed by their personal written and oral testimonies, creative conceptions, and performances within the final works. Single sequences are shot as continuous takes, referencing iconic scenes from the films of Michael Haneke, Gus van Sant, Bela Tarr and Chantal Akerman – a ferry journey across the Mersey, a darkened room looking out on to an early morning street, a car wash, the cutting of daisies with small scissors, the obsessive cleaning of a floor – providing the framework for reflections on remembered incidents and states of mind. 

To coincide with the exhibition join Manchot in conversation with Dr Amanda Ravetz at Castlefield Gallery on 10 October 2015 / 3-5pm. The event will also be the official book launch for TWELVE, a publication with specially commissioned texts by Bill Arning, Gareth Evans, Zoe Pilger and Sally O’Reilly. Dr Amanda Ravetz is a writer and filmmaker and has a PhD in Social Anthropology. She is based in the research centre MIRIAD at the Manchester School of Art. Details HERE.

Join the debate on the value of art within the addiction & Recoverist agenda on the 13 October 2015 / 10am-12:30pm. Speaking at the event will be Clive Parkinson, Director of Arts for Health at MMU, Social Scientist Dr Ali Roy from UCLAN, Zoe Zontou, a Lecturer in Drama at Liverpool Hope University, UKRF founding Director & recovery activist, Alistair Sinclair and founding Director & Twelve commissioner, Mark Prest from Portraits of Recovery. More details HERE. 

Find Castelfield Galley’s, Twelve+ posters at poster sites across Manchester, 11 September – 15 October 2015. To coincide with the exhibition participants in long term recovery, collaborated on Twelve+ Manchester with Manchot and Portraits of Recovery with support from Manchester-based artist Rachel Cheung. Through a series of workshops the participants explored their lived experiences of addiction and recovery and their reactions to Twelve, in order to produce co-authored artwork taking Twelve out onto the streets at poster-sites across Manchester. For more information on the locations and dates of the posters please follow Twelve+ with this Google Map link http://bit.ly/1NRyzDe

Major Work by Vic McEwan on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River 
Arts for Health collaborator and artsist in residence at the National Museum of Australia, Vic McEwan presents his latest work. “A haunting art installation has come to life on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River on the edge of Canberra. Using fog as a canvas, contemporary artist Vic McEwan has transformed static images of historical objects from the National Museum of Australia's (NMA) collection, into a transient live experience. The fluidity of the fog breaths life into the archival images, creating an eerie spectacle projected on the banks of the river. The fog installation explores Australia's connection to the land through the museum's agriculture collection. Featured objects include a collection of prize-winning wheat samples, a stump-jump plough, grinding stones used by Wiradjuri people to make flour, and a typewriter used by poet and activist Mary Gilmore.” Read more by clicking on the image ABOVE.

Sex Workers and Dying? 

Callout for help? 
Good grief?
No - this is not a midlife crisis! Although, come to think of it, I am a little warn out, frazzled and just a tad haggard! No, this is a serious request. Although the net has plenty of dubious stories about the value of sex workers in the lives of people with low self esteem and sometimes physical disfigurement, I’m finding very little in terms of references to how people with a terminal illness and who maintain sexual desire, fulfil this if they’re not in a relationship. Anecdotally, I understand that forward thinking palliative care workers and hospice staff have enabled these moments to happen, but if you have any experience in this field, or know of research or workers in this area, it would help inform a new piece of work I’m involved in. Email HERE.



The Radcliffe Trust – Music Grants 
The Radcliffe Trust has announced that the next deadline for applications to its Music masking grants programme is the 31st January 2016. Through its grant making programme, the Radcliffe Trust supports classical music performance and training especially chamber music, composition and music education. Particular interests within music education are music for children and adults with special needs, youth orchestras and projects at secondary and higher levels, including academic research. Applicants must be a registered charity or an exempt charity.

http://www.theradcliffetrust.org/music-grants/ 

Funding to Support Education in Impoverished Areas (UK & Worldwide)

The British & Foreign Schools Society (BFSS), which supports educational projects in the UK and around the world, has announced that the next closing date for applications is the 18th December 2015. The Society supports organisations within the UK and internationally that reach out to children in remote or impoverished areas, improving inclusively in education and providing much-needed facilities. The Society normally makes grants for educational projects totalling about £500,000 in any one year. The majority (85% of grants) are made to charities and educational bodies (with charitable status).

http://www.bfss.org.uk/grants/

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looking forward to seeing you...

There are very few tickets left for our event on October 7th. We will be operating a reserve list as soon as we are at capacity. Click HERE for more details and tickets. I can confirm that the day will have international presentations around arts and health development and aspirations from Lithuania, Japan and Finland. 

Presentations from the UK will be loosely be divided into two areas around mental health and wellbeing & elders and dementia. We will find out about the work from:

Miriam Avery works as a mental health nurse in an child inpatient psychiatry unit in Manchester who has been undertaking research into arts based interventions for children and young people hospitalised with mental health issues, and have recently completed a literature review with some interesting findings. She will share initial findings which indicate that a variety of arts based interventions may improve outcomes if used as part of conventional inpatient treatment plans. 

Alison Bowry from High Peak Community Arts and the 5 year ‘Project eARTh’, (environmental arts and health) funded by Big Lottery and learning from the previous 5 years. Project eARTh is open to people experiencing mental distress and other long term conditions. 

Rachel Radford will share the work of Creative Alternatives, an Arts on Prescription programme designed to improve the emotional wellbeing of adults experiencing mild to moderate depression, stress and anxiety and who believe that creativity lies at the root of personal health and growth, as well as contributing significantly to the development of our communities and our society. 

Sarah Greaves is an Artist and an Art Psychotherapist working in two adult psychiatric hospitals for the charity Turning Point. She is developing a service user led visual art project exploring aspects of mental health and recovery through a series of art workshops over six months culminating in a public exhibition. 

I'll be pleased to introduce research team members of the Dementia & Imagination project, including our very own Dr Kat Taylor and research artists, Penny Klepuszewska, Carol Hanson and Jeni McConnell who will share a little of where the research is up to alongside a taster of the artists responses. 

Sarah Lawton and SHARING the MAKING and her socially-engaged project at the William Morris Gallery, in Walthamstow planning and implementing an older peoples pilot project, aiming to improve participants’ wellbeing and to ‘measure’ the impacts, using the UCL wellbeing measuring tool-kit.

Stacey Coughlin is a PhD candidate and artist exploring what influences people with dementia’s engagement with creative activities? When is the moment that engagement is decided and invested in? How does an individual engage with the Arts within an Arts and Health/Participatory Arts setting? 

Liz Postlethwaite will share the work of The Stroybox Project, originally developed during her time at the Library Theatre Company, and now run by social enterprise, Small Things Creative Projects, this project is specifically designed to engage, empower and enliven people living with Alzheimer's and Dementia. On a practical level it is an engagement and communication methodology which uses performance and collaborative storymaking as a starting point.

Alongside all these presenters, there are a Wild-Cards who I'm going to make time and space for and include:

Kathryn West is a singer and a music for health practitioner who for the last two years has been working at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital as part of the 'Medical Notes Project' run by Lime Arts. Her presentation will explore how music for health work has provided a space in which to explore a more creative, authentic practice, alongside the relationships she has developed with patients, families and hospital staff.  

Head of the Manchester School of Architecture, Professor Tom Jefferies will share, SMART Health and Space. The project cross cuts between Health, Architecture, Communication Technologies, Urban Planning and Infrastructure, using health as a basis to connect technological innovation and resilience with wider society. The Scottish Highlands is currently undergoing depopulation, an ageing demographic and health problems including diabetes created by a sedentary lifestyle. This forms the context for the project, parts of which are to be piloted on location. 

Dr Langley Brown will share The ARTLINES project and the gathering-in, and in some cases rescue, of a number of important archives that together document the scope and depth of arts and health practice and philosophy over the past 40 years; and of how - and why -  these archives are now being acquired by the Wellcome Library.

So - let's tickle the ribs of our dear old Northern Quarters and share and enjoy each others company, ideas and aspirations.        I can't wait...

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...ХТО ТИ?

What a week! The Assisted Dying Bill was overturned by politicians who seem rather out of touch with public opinion. MP’s have rejected plans for a right to die in England and Wales in their first vote on the issue in almost 20 years. 118 MP’s were in favour and 330 against plans to allow some terminally ill adults to end their lives with medical supervision. Read more here and it’s worth noting that a 2015 populus poll of 5,000 people – the largest ever conducted on assisted dying – showed 82% of the public support Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill to give terminally ill, mentally competent people the legal option of assistance to die with dignity.

Saturday saw Jeremy Corbyn elected as leader of the Labour Party with a sweeping majority. Some say he can’t go on to win the general election on ‘popular’ politics. What, a politician with passion, conviction and a belief that it is inequalities that underpin much of what’s wrong in society - well I for one believe that change is possible. What’s needed now is action and yes, a democratic force to oppose the dominant elite who might at last, be under harsher scrutiny. To paraphrase his victory speech: ‘...our party is about justice, is about democracy, {…} we are working together to achieve great victories, not just electorally for Labour, but emotionally for the whole of our society to show that we don’t have to be unequal, it doesn’t have to be unfair, poverty isn’t inevitable, things can - and they will - change.”

2020+ Arts, Society & Public Health is filling up nicely and I can confirm that as well as our international guests, we’ll have artists and health practitioners focusing on the areas around mental health and around ageing and dementia. As a format the day, it seems we’ll have themed areas that focus on these issues. Much, much more next week.

£12,000 Royal Knickers Scandal

The week also saw our dear old monarch celebrate her longevity and wealth - sorry - I meant, this summer saw a pair of vintage royal knickers sold for a shed-load of cash. Unequal in privilege, unequal in size. Click on either the outsize bloomers, or our unelected head of state.

LABORATORIO RELACIONAL DE ENFERMAGEM: projeto pedagógico, dialógico e crítico
This week I have been working with colleagues from the Portuguese Red Cross Nursing School of Oliveira de Azeméis and we’ve been exploring communication between nurses and patients. Big thanks to those of you who came and shared your ideas, practice and vision - and who hosted visits. That you shared so freely, makes me proud to be associated with you. I'm very interested to talk to those of you involved in nursing, who may want to be involved in future developments in this area.

Black History Month - Greater Manchester

BHMGM is a new arts partnership network to publicise events during October 2015 hosted by galleries, museums, theatres, artist led organisations and community based groups. Click on the Chris Ofili painting above to find out more.

A FOCUS ON ARTS LEARNING FOR ADULTS CONFERENCE
1 October 2015, Novotel Hotel Cardiff
At this conference, NIACE Cymru will present an exploration of the many and varied benefits of adult participation and learning in the Arts. Improved health and well-being, increased employability, better business through creative approaches and a kinder more equal society; the effects can be life changing. With support from the Big Lottery in Wales we are delighted to focus on our own innovative Sharing Stories: Sharing Understanding Project and welcome knowledgeable and stimulating speakers including:
Vikki Heywood CBE - Chair of the recent Warwick Commission formerly Executive Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company
Jo Broadwood - Author of research report Arts & Kindness
More details HERE.

Spirit of 2012 Leading Voices £1m Fund 
To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, the Spirit of 2012 Leading Voices programme will make a single grant of up to £1 million for a 2 - 3 year project that offers new skills in the verbal arts to young people. Projects should enable young people to explore and give voice to the attitudes and behaviours that shape their lives and the social contexts in which they live; extending their capacity to empathise with others and collaborate to produce high quality creative work. They should inspire young people to engage critically with personal, ethical, social and political issues relevant to them and their communities through the exploration, expression and representation of themes, ideas, aspirations and dilemmas. Activities should be those that develop listening, reflective and expressive communication skills and may include, but are not limited to - film-making, song-writing, story-telling, poetry and rap, drama, improvisation and debate. The deadline for submitting expression of interest is 5pm on 30th September 2015. Read more at: http://www.spiritof2012trust.org.uk/leading-voices 

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Morrison’s Foundation Charitable Grants 

Charities registered in the UK can apply for grants from the newly established Morrison’s Foundation. The Foundation is looking to award approximately £2 million a year for community projects that improve people's lives. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and there is no specific grant amount that can be applied for but applicants must demonstrate how the project will deliver public benefit, who in the community will specifically benefit and how it will bring about positive change. Applicants must also have financial information dating back to 2012 and have raised some of the funding elsewhere. The Foundation has already given out a number of grants, including one in the region of £20,000 to a project in Scotland that works on youth employment in the fishing industry, yet to be formally launched, and £5,000 for a project run by Bolton Dementia Support. Applications can be submitted at any time. Read more at: https://www.morrisonsfoundation.com

Widerstehe Doch Der Sünde

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. . . people, places and things

On Tuesday 1st September I was a guest of the UK Recovery Federation at their annual gathering here at MMU, and with a sold-out event of 250 people including activists and ‘professionals’ - my sharing of the Recoverist Manifesto could have been make or break. My harshest critics so far have certainly been people in recovery, but if I’m being entirely honest, it’s been people taking part in Manifesto sessions that have been initially reticent, only to bloom and get stuck in when they got involved in all the blasting and bombardiering that takes place in the sessions. Essentially, it’s all about nurturing our voices and moving away from passivity to proactivity - thus Recoverism was born.

The day was beautifully planned and facilitated by all those involved and my personal thanks to Alistair for inviting me and embracing the Recoverist ideals which tally so perfectly with his vision and so many people who are in recovery from substance misuse. If you think the Recoverist agenda isn’t relevant for you - that you’re not addicted to anything - you may want to look a little deeper, because one of our real concerns is simply the insecurity of contemporary life where - as Michael Billington has commented - compulsions take the place of convictions and we are all hooked on something.

So, we’re moving forward and alongside aspirations and vision captured at recent events in Ireland, Holland and the UK, whatever the next iteration of the Recoverist Manifesto will be, it’ll pack a bittersweet punch.

With addiction and recovery in mind, it’s worth noting that a new play co-produced by the National Theatre was premiered last week. I’ve not yet seen People, Places and Things by Duncan Macmillan, but judging by the reviews, it adds to the whole arts and addiction agenda perfectly. Billed as “a mesmeric trip into addiction, rehab and identity” –  “it throws up a host of perceptions about the things that drive people to desperate self-medication and about what it is in the psychology of (someone misusing) that makes the road to recovery so fraught with difficulty”. You can read an Independent review by clicking HERE.

A War Criminal's Distraction
It’s been a hellish week in terms of people escaping from war-torn Syria and no glib comments from me here. The only thing that really galls me as I consume the news in all its guises, is that Tony Blair still insists on popping up in the UK press with sage words of wisdom, particularly around the Labour leadership elections. Does the man not realise he’s having an opposite impact to the one he intends to have? Arrogant egotist. We’re still awaiting the publication of the Chilcot Inquiry and his personal involvement in what was largely seen as an illegal war - a war that is intrinsically connected to the chain of events that has led to this unfolding tragedy.

I note that whilst the UK government sent low-level representatives to the Beijing 70th anniversary celebrations of China’s 1945 victory, its massive parade of weapons (probably of mass-destruction) in Tiananmen Square featured Russian president Vladimir Putin, Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, who has been indicted by the international criminal court for mass atrocities, and non other than everyone's favourite special envoy, Tony Blair. How he must have relished the sight of such a fine military display.

Interesting then that John Baron, MP, discussing the protracted delays in John Chilcot’s Iraq Inquiry, recently told the Observer: “I have no doubt that some vested interests have resisted disclosure and this has helped delay progress. Having been interviewed by Sir John as part of the inquiry, I believe he is determined to address the central issue as to whether No 10 intentionally misled the nation as to the case for war.”

A Labour Party Art Manifesto
Quoting theatre director David Lan, Jeremy Corbyn set out his manifesto for the arts this week, with dissent and democracy being at its heart: “dissent is necessary to democracy, and democratic governments should have an interest in preserving sites in which that dissent can be expressed”.

Furthermore he tore apart the narrow instrumentalist stance that dominates the econometric justification of the arts: "Under the guise of a politically motivated austerity programme, this government has savaged arts funding with projects increasingly required to justify their artistic and social contributions in the narrow, ruthlessly instrumentalist approach of the Thatcher governments."

He concluded: “A successful economy and a healthy, creative, open and vibrant democratic society depend on a flourishing creative sector,” {…} “Culture and the arts play an essential role in individual and community wellbeing. If we are to achieve our goal in government of supporting people in leading more enjoyable and fulfilling lives, funding for the arts must be central to that offer.”

Here's to a brighter future that challenges the status quo and offers real societal change.

Next months 2020+ Arts, Society and Public Health looks set to be a corker! Fresh back from the Green Man Festival, we’ve got the 3 research artists from Dementia and Imagination sharing some of their ongoing work alongside Dr Katherine Taylor and I’ve had some amazing expressions of interest in sharing from the region and further afield. I’ll share this all next week. Tickets are going fast - and please don’t get too hung up on the words ‘public health’ - if you’re from health settings you are more than welcome to attend. It’s just one of our regional events - made big! Limited tickets left HERE.

No such thing as bad publicity?

Drug suppliers to the masses and central characters in a string of financial scandals, GlaxoSmithKlien (GSK) are partnering up with The King’s Fund again to launch the 2016 GSK IMPACT Awards, which will be open for applications from UK charities until 25 September 2015. In a time of 'fiscal' restraint and 'deficit' reduction, I imagine a lot of small arts organisations are in need of a spot of cash and publicity - just exercise caution with this one! 



Arts and Health Research Post
The ludicrously named, Not so grim up North brings together three organisations in the field of health, culture and wellbeing; the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester (on behalf of Manchester Museums and Galleries Partnership), Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums (TWAM) and researchers at University College London (UCL). For full job details click HERE.

Funding for research & projects that address learning disabilities
The Baily Thomas Charitable Fund is a registered charity which was established to provide both research and project funding in the area of learning disability and to aid the care and relief of those affected by learning disability. The Trust consider under learning disability the conditions generally referred to as severe learning difficulties, together with autism. In this area, they consider projects concerning children or adults. Applications will only be considered from voluntary organisations which are registered charities or are associated with a registered charity. Schools and Parent Teacher Associations and Industrial & Provident Societies can also apply. Funding in the past has ranged in value from £250 to £150,000.

The next deadline for research funding is the 1st February 2016. The deadline for project funding in excess of £10,000 is the 1st December 2015. Application for project funding for £10,000 or less can be submitted at any time. Read more by clicking on the sleeping rabbits above.

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