Arts Uplift a Community Interest Company specialising in arts and health and heritage.

Creative activity has long been known to have tangible effects on health and quality of life. The arts, creativity and the imagination are agents of wellness: they help keep the individual resilient, aid recovery and foster a flourishing society. Some work preventively, some enhance recovery, others improve the quality of life for people with long-term or terminal conditions. The creative arts help make sense of our human condition, making room for the heart and soul to be heard. They encourage active engagement with the world around us, help people to keep learning, connect with each other and contribute to their communities.”

A Charter for Arts, Health and Wellbeing, July 2012, National Alliance for Arts, Health and Wellbeing.

Arts and Health

What is arts and health? Arts and health uses a diverse range of arts practices to improve health and well being, both physically and mentally. The art is a vehicle to producing positive health outcomes. The arts forms might be drama, dance/movement, music (singing, performances, percussion/drumming), creative writing (poetry/stories/plays), drama, film and radio drama. Arts Uplift has contact with many high quality artists that can deliver these art forms. The art engages the participants in a fun and joyful way and creates a distance from the physical or mental illness/issue allowing space to be expressive and create and to be you. Or the art has a direct influence on the person’s health and well being by improving their physical and mental health, as for example in dance and movement with people with a stroke.

What conditions/issues can it help with? Arts can be used with a multitude of conditions/issues both physical and mental. For example, people living with dementia, people suffering from a stroke, cancer patients, anxiety, depression, social isolation, obesity, general old age, learning disabilities, autism, parkinsons, the list is endless.

Prevention

The arts can be used for the prevention of condition’s/issues also. Arts workshops and projects can be tailored to a particular issue, the content being informed by facts. For example, a series of arts and crafts workshops working with women that are smoking in pregnancy to educate them about the risks to the baby. A series of dance/movement workshops with older people that are at risk of falling to help with falls prevention. Under 5’s dance and movement workshops with the parents/carers to educate the parent and toddler about the positive benefits of exercise, to develop co-ordination and balance etc and to increase the bond between them.

Heritage & Arts

What is heritage and arts? Heritage and arts uses the arts to interpret the heritage and history that surrounds us and educate people about it in a fun and engaging way. It is also using the arts to gather new personal stories about history and heritage and create new resources that can be used again and again. For example, a project in a care home can use museums handling objects to stimulate memories. A storyteller can then speak with these residents to source stories based on real life memories. Cd’s and podcasts can then be created of these stories for the residents loved ones to keep or be used as part of exhibitions etc.

Booking Arts Uplift

Arts Uplift’s artists can be booked for a one off workshop or performance, a series of workshops or they can be commissioned to run a longer specific bespoke project tailored to your needs. Jenny Davis will help you work out what the best art form and artist is to suits your needs and help you design a project that delivers the best outcomes. See the ‘bookings’ page for more details.

“Eliot enjoyed Grown Up and Wigglers last week. I was impressed with the obvious thought and planning which went into the class. Learning and movement, a good combination!”

Parent from Grown Ups and Wigglers Dance/Movement Class

“Jenny Davis (Arts Uplift) has a flair for the creative when bringing together arts and the wider cultural sector for the benefit of different audiences. While working with Jenny on the Wychavon arts and reminiscence project, Museums Worcestershire benefitted greatly from her knowledge, passion and project experience as did the care homes who responded well to combined heritage and arts sessions.”

Gemma Dhami, Musuems Worcestershire

“ We are now collecting and making memories instead of throwing them away”

Coming to the sessions “has helped with the dementia by socialising and bringing back the humour”

Participant, Suitcase Stories-storytelling and reminiscence