2010/2011 Grant awards

£4,300 was awarded to Annsbrae Tennants / Service users Forum, Lerwick, Shetland.

Project title: Therapeutic garden
To grow produce, such as vegetables, herbs and flowers to develop gardening skills and work in partnership with the community in order to feel involved and recognised by the community.

Those involved all have severe and enduring mental health conditions, they have been involved in the design and planning of the project and the project is led by a forum member who is living with a mental health condition. Other forum members will be part of the project team and they will make decisions on all aspects of project management with the support of trained volunteers.

£700 was awarded to Livister Youth Centre, Whalsay Shetland to run a positive mental health open day at their club for children and young people. Despite several attempts to contact them they did not take up their award.

£2,700 was awarded to Clydesdale Resource Network, Lanark Health Centre.

A group of mental health service users, all photography enthusiasts, wanted to design and produce visual displays depicting people recovering from mental health problems in work and leisure environments. They used various pictorial formats including an exhibition of their work, a webpage, a calendar and framed prints

Members identified personal goals, group goals and wider goals associated with sending out a positive message about recovery from mental ill health.

They displayed their work in a variety of public places showing real people with mental health issues engaged in activities and roles that are 'everyday', 'purposeful' and 'enjoyable'. Members of the public will change their perceptions of mental illness, become better informed and see that mental ill health is common, can be experienced by anyone and can be recovered from.

£2,300 was awarded to A Stage Further 2 Drama group, Bellshill.

To facilitate their participation and performances as part the 2010 Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival.

The group will stage a series of performances throughout North Lanarkshire as part of the 2010 Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival and beyond. This will involve group members scripting, rehearsing and performing a series of drama inputs that focus on Mental Health, to audiences in North Lanarkshire.

Their performance showcases stories of recovery and resilience and will benefit group members through raising confidence, self esteem, and a renewed sense of purpose. Strong messages challenging the stigma and discrimination surrounding Mental Health are an integral part of the group's performances.

As well as delivering strong and powerful messages, the group hope to enhance community cohesion through awareness raising and developing better community perceptions of what it's like to live with mental ill health.

£5,000 was awarded to Hearing Voices Network, Dundee.

Project title: Haven Media
To design an integrated multi media package that educates the public on voice hearing and associated mental health issues. This will contribute to the reduction of stigma that exists for people with these experiences. The package also intends to advertise the facilities and support available at the Haven whilst also giving those involved the opportunity to contribute to a meaningful and worthwhile project.

The package will encompass all areas of multi-media. These will include leaflets, posters, newsletters, DVD's and a hearing voices network website. Resources will be distributed to carers, GP's, wards and other voluntary organisations and the website will be advertised through various multi-media publications.

£4910 was awarded to Orkney Blide Trust, Kirkwall, Orkney.

To create a large garden to the rear of our building on which we would like to develop individual vegetable plots, or allotments, for use by people with mental health problems. People who have mental health problems will be involved in the project and participate fully in the design of the allotment space and in all the work necessary to grow vegetables successfully.

Those who take up the challenge to develop these plots, and to grow their own vegetables, will be drawn from our existing project service users, as well as recruiting new mental health service users who are not currently engaged in other areas of our service.

Those who take up the challenge will be supported in the development of their vegetable plot, and will be guided in the selection of vegetables to grow, and in planting, tending and harvesting their vegetables. This will generate healthy exercise, healthy eating and a level of fun.

£4,940 was awarded to Theatre NEMO to run Would you like to be in my shoes? - An Adult Community Animation Workshop.

The project supports, involves and empowers a group of adults of all ages from the community who have found themselves or their loved ones on the fringes of, or excluded from, mainstream society because of mental ill-health.

Activities include storytelling, model making, filming camera work, set building, art work, voice production and recording and editing. A DVD of the animation was produced and screened at the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival in October 2010. It was also made available to continue to deliver the message long after the project was completed.

£1,030 was awarded to NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Creative Forum in Renfrewshire to run 'Changing Perspectives' – to design a large mural in Paisley.

Professional artists and members of mental health art groups worked side by side with the general public in Paisley Shopping Centre to design this large mural demonstrating the changing perspectives of mental health. Working with local artists they produced fifty panels challenging public perceptions, attitudes and understanding of stigma and increase understanding of mental health. The completed mural was exhibited in Paisley shopping centre during mental health week. Information was available to shoppers of how to support people with mental health problems.

£1,340 was awarded to Brighter Future at Causeway Integrated Services RAMH to produce a handbook for older adults in East Renfrewshire.

A steering group of Brighter Futures peer mentors and service participants have identified the need for accessible, clear and comprehensive information about mental health and well-being in later life. They have developed a handbook which enables older people to have a clearer understanding of the emotional and practical issues and barriers common in later life; improve understanding of how this can make individuals vulnerable; advice on how to reduce the likelihood of mental health problems and take steps to enable good mental health and well-being; reduce stigma associated with mental health issues. The handbook includes a directory on services and activities accessible for older people throughout East Renfrewshire. The handbook will also be available in an accessible electronic version in other languages, an auditory version and in Braille.

£5,000 was awarded to Morven Day Services creative writing group to produce a Creative Writing Anti Stigma booklet.

£3,258 was awarded to Dumfries and Galloway Mental Health Association to establish an Information Service.

The project takes a co-operative approach drawing on the experiences and skills of those with, and who have recovered from, mental illness, those who care for and support them and the families and friends affected. It delivered mental health well-being information through nine outreach visits to communities across Dumfries and Galloway. Local artists assisted in the development of communication and presentation materials.

£1,742 was awarded to Healing Spaces Working Group towards developing a parallel music project to run alongside the 'see me' photographic competition exhibitions across Dumfries and Galloway.

The music project used backing music, sound-scapes and a CD to accompany the photography exhibitions. The Healing Spaces project ensured that arts and culture are integral to the psychiatric hospital, enhancing the environment and patient experience. It recognises the links between hospital and the home environment in people's recovery journey. Exhibitions toured public spaces across Dumfries and Galloway including libraries and Arts Festivals.

£5,000 was awarded to Birchwood Highland to combine puppetry skills, personal stories and creative expression to produce 'Can you see me?' a puppet show about experiences of mental ill-health and recovery.

Puppets have universal appeal, conveying sensitive and emotional stories in interesting and often humorous ways to people of all ages. This makes them an ideal medium for positively responding to challenging issues. The puppet making workshops draw on personal strengths and experiences to produce various characters. The projects and puppet shows were filmed and screened in community venues during Mental Health Film Festival and are available as a training resource.

£5,000 was awarded to Aberdeenshire Council to develop a social inclusion event in the Garioch area of Aberdeenshire.

The vision for this project was for people with lived experience to have the opportunity to play a leading role in their local community's planning and decision making. This process challenged misconceptions and identified barriers posed by internal and external stigma associated with mental ill-health in order that they may be eliminated. People with lived experience of mental ill-health were involved in planning, organising, reporting and disseminating the findings. Utilising a street map approach, people identified when and why they felt excluded in their community as well as aspects of community life to be celebrated and barriers to be tackled. These views were then transformed by a local artist into a comic strip, then developed further into a video presentation to take to local community organisations.

£5,000 was awarded to Universal Comedy to showcase an event in 2011.

Universal Comedy will work with service users across the Lothians offering taster workshops and longer developmental courses to anyone with a lived experience of mental health. Developmental courses will culminate in a public forum showcase where participants lead, devise, produce and perform their own show to a wider audience. The event offers service users something tangible to work towards and brings together all the learning and comedy skills. The show will take place during the Edinburgh International Festival in 2011.

£4,700 was awarded to Western Isles Association for Mental Health for their One in four project.

One in four will produce a DVD and book including views of what people's understanding is of recovery and stigma and discrimination of people with mental health problems. Taking the statistic 1 in 4 (or 25%) of us will experience a mental health problem at some time in our lives, the book will focus on 25 interviews from professionals and members of the public and include 25 pieces of creative art. The DVD will incorporate 25 video bites of 25 seconds.

£4,380 was awarded to Fife Employment Access Trust (FEAT) for Community Wellbeing – promoting a mentally healthy neighbourhood.

FEAT will deliver nine Community Wellbeing training/awareness courses across Fife promoting a mentally healthy neighbourhood. Courses will be delivered to people in local communities throughout Fife who would not normally access mental health training. They will offer practical skills and techniques to improve mental wellbeing, awareness surrounding stigma and how to reduce the impact of poor mental health for the individual, their families, friends and for the community as a whole.

£1,200 was awarded to Dunfermline Athletic F.C. Community Team.

To develop and work with a Mental Health Group to increase awareness of discrimination and stigma through access to football, sport and activities. This will include exercise and socialising as part of the DAFC Community programme, promoting positive steps to good mental health in the West Fife community, and working in partnership with other support agencies in the area to support learning and employment opportunities.

£4,390 was awarded to Klacksun to raise mental health awareness and promote positive images of mental health through telling stories in music and words and working with the media. Local people will tell their stories of their mental health recovery through songs, music and poetry or short stories they have written at a public event.

Klacksun will also work with the media to develop the confidence of local people to work with the local media and encourage their peers. The project will involve training for a small group of people covering talking to the media, challenging reporting styles and content and developing closer working relationships with local reporters.

£4,840 was awarded to New Horizons Borders.

To run a series of creativity groups across the Borders using arts, crafts, music, movement, creative writing and drama. By providing self-help along with access to the arts will help to promote better mental well being for members and help aid recovery. They will also hold exhibitions to display their work and challenge the stigma of mental ill health.