Sunday, March 11, 2012

Call to NW Artists, Ah Kong, Studentship, Funding and Pearly Kings and Queens...


CALLING NORTH WEST ARTS AND HEALTH NETWORK PRACTITIONERS TO DEMONSTRATE THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE ARTS TO WELL-BEING!

HEALTHGAIN 2012  Event & Showcase  
21 March at Piccadilly Place 4 Manchester
12.30 for lunch until 4,30pm

North West Arts and Health Network members are invited to attend and showcase at this exciting event. Arts and Health practitioners Helena Edwards and Christine Simms will be coordinating the creativity element of this event on 21 March and would welcome input from other network members who can make a contribution and also enjoy the fabulous range of taster sessions and workshops. 

The creativity unlocked by integrating arts and healthcare is key to empowering patients, improving health outcomes and overall quality of care and reduced costs and there is a growing body of research evidence demonstrating that the arts can lower blood pressure, reduce patients use of analgesic medication and length of hospital stays as well as improving compliance with recommended treatments.
Demonstrate the potential of arts in healthcare using objects of art and the creative process as a catalyst to enhance physical, mental and emotional recovery and help give meaning to our lives. Showcase your work in integrating a range of artistic genres into community and healthcare settings to humanise the health system, help clinicians connect to their patients (the people behind the conditions!)  and demonstrate the power of the art sto connect people with the power of creativity at key moments in their lives for therapeutic and expressive purposes.
Healthgain2012 Event & Showcase

In attendance will be a range of representatives from NHS organisations who are seeking innovative inspiration in order to 'Make every contact with patients and communities count' . There will be an excellent workshop (1.30-2.30pm) that you can attend where 20 plus NHS projects will showcase their current work and, led by an Appreciative Inquiry facilitator, will learn from one another as well as think outside of the box in order learn from outside their field.
Be part of a Northern Healthgain Learning Community. Highlight the positive impact of 'arts in healthcare' and recovery.
Please contact Chris WITHOUT DELAY to discuss what you can bring to the party and to book your place at this exciting event simmschristine@hotmail.com


AH KONG  [阿公] - A SHORT FILM ON DEMENTIA BY ROYSTON TAN
"A favourite grandson attempts to restore his grandfather’s ailing memory. A famous chicken seller, a charming dancer and a ladies’ man… this is what his grandfather used to be, before he was diagnosed with dementia. However it’s not the past his grandfather forgets. In fact, it’s all he can remember. What he has forgotten is how to live in the present." I receive a lot of links to films relating to dementia and I wonder what you think about this?


CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S HEALTH OUTCOMES CONSULTATION
A big thanks to Lilli Brodner-Francis, Music for Health Project Manager at the RNCM for drawing my attention to this. The Children and Young People’s Health Outcomes Forum is gathering views on the health outcomes that matter most for children and young people and how the different parts of the health system will work together to deliver these. The consultation focuses on four areas in particular: acutely ill children; mental health; children with disabilities; and long-term conditions public health. It would be fantastic if we could all talk about the benefits of music making and other art activities for children in healthcare settings in this consultation by the Department of Health.

It closes on 30th April 2012.


ARTS AND HEALTH STUDENTSHIP
Although this specific studentship isn’t managed by Arts for Health, it is something I would strongly support. Proposals are invited that explore how participation and participatory processes within arts make a difference to individual and community well-being. Full details at http://www.mmu.ac.uk/research/studentships/socialsci.php

STARICOFF and CLIFT
From the pen of Staricoff and Clift, comes the latest update on the medical literature between 2004 and 2011. Arts and Music in Healthcare at the Chelsea and Westminster Health Charity.


GUYS AND ST THOMAS’S CHARITY
And another piece of news from das capital, is the appointment of Nikki Crane to Head of Arts Strategy at the Guys and St Thomas’s Charity. Nikki has been Head of Social Inclusion at Arts Council England, where she led work on arts and criminal justice and arts in health. We wish Nikki well in this exciting new role that places the arts at the centre of the charity’s vision. 


TWO FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
The Lankelly Chase Foundation has announced that it is inviting applications from arts based organisations through their Arts Programme.  Through this programme the trustees are focussing their grant making on three specific areas: promoting the use of the arts by people with severe mental ill health: encouraging vulnerable young people to participate in arts activities: helping young artists to pursue a career in the arts (this programme is currently closed to external applications).

Grants awarded are generally between £10,000 and £15,000 a year. In some exceptional cases the fund will consider larger grants. The foundation will only consider applications from registered charities, industrial and provident societies, exempt charities and community interest companies or organisations applying for charitable status.  Applications can be submitted at any time. For more information click: http://www.lankellychase.org.uk/programmes/2

The Allan & Nesta Ferguson Charitable Trust is open to charitable organisations that support the promotion of education, international friendship and understanding as well as world peace and development. The Trust seeks to fund projects that have an educational aim, element or content. Applications for core funding or the construction of buildings in the UK will not be considered. However, the trust will consider to fund aid projects overseas such as; water treatment, food and medical supplies or the provision of basic facilities that are the pre-requisite of an educational or development initiative.

Applications from organisations for grants of up to £50,000 can be made at any time. For larger grants, applications will be considered in March and October each year. For more information visit: http://www.fergusontrust.co.uk/who.php

THE LAST WEEK OF CONSULTATION ON  
M A N I F E S T O Part One   



"The arts and health manifesto is a love filled slap in the face of consumerist society. It brandishes our interconnectedness like a sword, calling for cutting through, teasing out, writing and re writing ourselves until we get closer to getting it right. It's about Social justice, about joined up thinking, its about a courage we fear might not happen in our lifetime.

It says - Stand up! Be fair! Be kind! Show respect! Risk it all! Get a grip! Have a laugh! go on I dare you....It challenges us to take personal action and taunts us with the promise of a better world if we can treasure others as we treasure ourselves.

It is at once bleak and hopeful, a troubled text searching for answers, asking questions and promising nothing if we don't start working (creatively) together.
It is a starting point. It faces us towards the global revolution we simply cant afford not to have." Jami Bladel CEO/Artistic Director, KickStart Arts

A little song for the week ahead, by the underrated Darkstar...C.P