Arts Uplift a not for profit Community Interest Company specialising in arts, health and heritage
Arts Uplift works with a wide range of the community from children and young people to older people from across Worcestershire, Coventry and Warwickshire.
It also uses a wide range of exciting arts in its projects from storytelling to dance to music etc.
It aims to use inspirational arts to enhance the physical and mental well-being of its participants and also teaches people about their local heritage as well as preserving it.
Participant on Song-Writing for Well Being course said:
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.
A Charter for Arts, Health and Wellbeing, July 2012, National Alliance for Arts, Health and Wellbeing.
“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.”
THE DIRECTORS
Jenny Davis
Jenny Davis, founder and director of Arts Uplift, has been working in community arts for 22 years. She trained in drama and theatre and ran Youth Theatres for many years with children and young people running workshops, directing and devising plays and producing. Some of the places Jenny has worked include The Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Number 8 Arts Centre, Pershore and she ran Vivre Drama, a youth theatre for many years.
She then became Arts Development Officer for Wychavon District Council in 2007 where she initiated and project managed many arts projects with children and young people, including the long standing Wychavon Youth Music project and The W Factor a district wide arts competition for young people. Over the last 6 years at Wychavon DC Jenny’s work focused more on arts and health and older people. Regular projects that Jenny project managed was Music workshops for dementia at Number 8 arts centre and regular arts projects in care homes across the district.
Jenny now works for Arts Uplift CIC full time developing the company and its finances as well as project managing the many varied projects that we run. She also sits on Warwickshire and Worcestershire’s Cultural Education Partnership’s as well the West Midlands Cultural Health Alliance and Coventry and Warwickshire Arts and Health Alliance.
Jenny has attended many arts and health conferences and symposiums over the years including, Good Practice: Symposium and Networking Event for People Working in Arts, Health and Wellbeing and Arts Development UK’s Arts, health and Wellbeing seminar and has much knowledge and experience of arts and health and how to evaluate the work for health outcomes.
Sue Pope
Sue has worked in the museum and heritage education sector for over 20 years, working for The National Trust, Avoncroft Museum and Museums Worcestershire. Since 2015 Sue has followed the freelance path and has delivered successful educational resource development and consultation projects for a number of clients including Chiltern Open Air Museum, Birmingham Conservation Trust and West Midlands Historic Buildings Trust.
As a practicing historic musician and music educator herself, Sue leads her own band of costumed minstrels and undertakes education advisory roles for both the Orchestra of the Swan, based in Stratford and the Academy of Ancient Music, based on Cambridge. Sue is also a trustee for the Group for Education in Museums (GEM).
Donna Hetherington
Donna is one of Arts Uplift’s Directors. Donna started her career in travel 32 years ago and is still in the same industry, although she had ten years out to work in commercial banking.
During her first stint in travel she went from being a leisure travel agent to then managing her own small branch in Ledbury, Herefordshire. In 1996 she was offered an amazing opportunity to become General Manager of this business and leisure travel industry and moved to the Midlands. During her time there she opened a new branch in West Yorkshire that went on to become very successful.
In 1998 this company was then acquired by a travel company in Leamington Spa and she became their Director of Sales – Business Travel. She stayed in this role for the next 6 years, managing a sales team and winning the travel accounts of many large companies around the UK.
In 2004 she decided it was time for a change and went to work for Lloyds Bank (Then LloydsTSB). She was a Commercial Manager with a portfolio of clients, and a brief to win new clients to the bank. She was involved in lending decisions, mortgage and savings advice and day to day banking requirements. Reading I&E reports, balance sheets and business plans was a regular occurrence and it gave her a great grounding in businesses from start up through growth to maturity.
After having her children, in 2014 she returned to the travel business and now works part time as an Account Manager for a Commercial travel company.
THE ADVISORY GROUP
Nigel Davis
Nigel is an experienced business improvement & change analyst as well as been practised in project management and training. His experience covers a number of customer facing and operational functions in the retail and utility sector including working for a number of blue-chip corporates. He is a Prince 2 and Six Sigma practitioner. Nigel has experience with financial modelling, cost benefit analysis and strategic business planning.
Earlier in his career he worked for a number of years for a major environmental campaign group where he obtained funding to set up a project for urban nature reserves.
He has additional skills in graphic design and video production, including producing training videos for some major corporates. In his spare time, he is a busy father, cook, gardener and house renovator!
Anna Clarke
Chair
Anna is an artist and gut health practioner with a long background in corporate business such as Sainsburys
Eve Beazeley
Children and young people advisor
Eve teaches visual arts at Stratford College
MELISSA KESKINKILINC
Children and young people/adult mental health advisor
Melissa is a visual artist and workshop leader and delivers art therapy sessions.
CRAIG SCRIVEN
People development advisor
Craig is a freelance HR specialist and has a long career working for local councils in HR.
