alt.Cardiff Issue One
January 2021
Your country needs craft How craft is protecting Wales’ mental health during the pandemic
News
Local graffiti artist brightens up run-down residential street Cardiff-based street artist, Unity, helped “make people smile” with her colourful paintings on Fanny Street A local street artist has helped the council build community in Cathays by covering a residential street in her colourful creations. Unity, a Cardiff-based graffiti artist, was commissioned by the council to paint the electric boxes on Fanny Street, with designs inspired by local primary schoolchildren. The project is part of a council effort to improve the appearance of the street and bring residents together during the pandemic. Councillor Sarah Merry said, “This has been such a sad, lonely time for lots of people and anything that makes us feel connected to the people we live alongside has to be for the good,” adding that she hopes the painted boxes “make people smile.” According to the councillor, the street was put forward for a grant because it had become run down, with paving lifted up by tree roots, regular fly tipping and a very low score on the street greenery index. The council have also added planters to the street to encourage
small pockets of biodiversity, with bee-friendly plants suggested by Cardiff University’s Pharmabees, a research group exploring how bees can help us fight superbugs. This effort to improve biodiversity inspired Unity’s designs for the electric boxes. The artist visited classes at St. Monica’s CW Primary School and Gladstone Primary School to ask the children to draw ideas based around pollination. She ended up with over 40 designs, which she said she tried to incorporate as much as possible in the final seven pieces. Unity said the response has been overwhelmingly positive, with people interested to see the designs progress and commenting that they liked them as they walked past. Unity has several other paintings on display in around Cathays, including on Crwys and Woodville Road. She hopes to be able to extend the project in the future and is currently discussing the possibility of painting the food bins of residents next.
Council calls for responses to new climate strategy The council has announced its new ‘One Planet Cardiff’ strategy to tackle the climate emergency and it is calling for the public to give feedback The council are calling for the public to give feedback on their new plan to tackle the climate emergency. The ‘One Planet Cardiff ’ strategy aims to make the city carbon neutral by 2030 whilst supporting new green economies and improving the wellbeing of residents. The council has introduced initiatives in the past to reduce its carbon footprint, but decided it needed to do more to address the severity of the climate crisis. “The need for change is right here, right now. Carrying on as we are is not a viable option. It’s not sustainable”, said Councillor Huw Thomas, leader of Cardiff Council, in a press release. The strategy includes a new district heating scheme, increasing tree
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canopy coverage in the city by 25%, ending council use of single-use plastics, reopening city centre canals, developing a farm park at Forest Farm to produce food and a sustainable food market stall at Cardiff Market. A local environmental campaigning group, Cardiff Green New Deal, said that they are excited to see the launch of the strategy, but they are concerned the change may not be fast enough. “We want to see action at pace that meets the emergency status of climate change”, said Dan Ward, a representative for the group. Cardiff ’s current consumption rate is shockingly at that of three planets, meaning that if everyone in the world consumed natural resources and generated carbon dioxide at the rate of
the city, we would need three planets to support us. The crisis has already had an impact on the city, with erratic weather patterns, air pollution, heatwaves and changes in biodiversity, that have had social and economic costs for businesses and citizens. The ‘One Planet’ strategy was approved by the council’s cabinet on the 15th October. Anyone interested in contributing has until the 11th December to submit their comments on the policy.
Interview
From spells to sells: how lockdown helped a local witch launch her business Welsh pagan Saffron Francessca learnt to make crafts during lockdown and now sells her wares internationally after an overwhelming response
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ockdown has left many people at a crossroad At the start of lockdown, she was recovering from in their careers. For Saffron Thomas, finding a major surgery that left her unable to walk or do her herself unemployed at the start of lockdown usual daily activities. helped her turn her passion for paganism She recounted, “The healing process wasn’t that into a business, growing exponentially to serve an great, so I wasn’t really doing much, and I think my international audience in its first month. mental health just went so bad because of that as well. Six years of practising witchcraft prepared the And then lockdown happened.” She explains that young woman lockdown was a from Maesteg huge obstacle in to take her her life, putting business to her at a stopping the next level point without in time for knowing what Halloween, to do next. selling her She found candles, solace in her wreaths, witchcraft and jewellery and realised that spells to a if she could wider audience improve how through a she felt she collaboration could do this with The for others too, Richmond inspired by Coven, an people she saw alternative making things homeware and online during Saffron Francessca sells a range of homeware and magic items that she makes from the comfort of her living room jewellery store. the pandemic. “To be honest, Despite it is really overwhelming because I didn’t have the helping her make the life-changing decision to start highest expectations for it,” she laughs nervously, “I a business, the recent firebreak lockdown has proved knew a few friends and family members would buy tough for her as she cannot easily acquire the raw things that I made but I did not expect a place where I materials she needs to make her items. shop myself to sell my things.” She said that she has felt under a lot of pressure to keep up with orders working alone, and the lack of second opinion makes her start to doubt herself. Family provides a crucial support for her in coping with the stress of running her own business. “I phone my mother, I’m like ‘Mam, I’m stressing out’”, she laughs. Her mother was a businesswoman, so she looks to her for advice and wisdom, but she is conscious of wanting to be as independent as possible. She lights up when she talks about her loved ones, Saffron started exploring paganism at the age of so it is no surprise that her biggest hope for the future 14, after using meditation to help with the stress of is to be able to bring family and friends into her her school deadlines, but she never considered it as a business: “Just working with other people I’m looking serious career path. forward to, that’s what I hope will happen.” After studying art at University of Wales Trinity She is cautious to predict where her business will Saint David, she worked as a tattoo artist, which she end up, but there is one thing she is certain of: “I’d planned on continuing until lockdown hit in March. love to do this for the rest of my life.”
“I did not expect a place where I shop myself to sell my things”
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Your Country Needs Craft Crafting has kept Welsh people going through the pandemic, but providers are worried about how accessible it may be in the future, discovers Chloe Coules
Feature
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hen the first lockdown hit, many people in Wales were left without a sense of purpose. Gemma Forde, who runs craft workshops in Roath, struggled to figure out how to keep going when her business was forced to shut. “I needed an excuse to get up in the morning,” she recounted. Gemma found her reason to keep going in craft. She started running workshops on Facebook live three mornings a week to create a sense of routine for herself amid the uncertainty the pandemic brought for her business, Lark Design Make. At first, things started out slow, but as interest and her following grew, she adapted these videos into regular paid Zoom workshops and kits. While the pandemic has proven to be a turbulent time for businesses across Wales, the craft industry has boomed. According to Business News Wales, online craft supplier, Lovecrafts. com, has seen a 434% increase in product revenue compared to 2019, with the biggest surge coming from beginner crafts. It is no coincidence the industry has found success during the pandemic, with many people in the UK turning to craft for its long-established mental health benefits, but unfortunately not everyone in Wales is able to access it. According to the Mental Health Foundation, engaging with the arts can protect your mental health, help manage existing mental health conditions, and aid recovery. In a time where mental illness is a pandemic in itself, craft is more important than ever. The customers of Gemma’s beginner crochet class, one of her most indemand offerings, have told her that taking up craft has improved their mental health by helping keep them off their smartphones. “We all know that looking at our phones too long there is always ultimately something there that you don’t want to see or something that winds you up or makes you feel sad so
Gemma Forde adapted her craft business to cope with the challenges of the pandemic
reducing that time can never be a bad thing,” said Gemma. As well as reducing screen time, Gemma believes the unique opportunity craft gives you to learn something new is good for your mental health, as it creates a sense of achievement and pride. Not content with just improving the mental health of its customers through craft, Lark Design Make hopes to raise £500 for Mind UK, a national mental health charity, through an annual Crafternoon workshop. Mind has been supporting many community mental health projects through their Covid-19 fund, including the Happy Dayz mental health and wellbeing support group in the Llanharan Drop-in Centre. This group used its funding to hire a community arts worker, Steve Ennis, to provide relaxation, support and mindfulness for its members through arts and crafts actvities, and to remove barriers to people attending the Dropin Centre and accessing support. They have found the arts and crafts sessions have had a big impact on their members’ mental health. “We have seen a change in service users who are very anxious,” said Jane Hawkshaw, a trustee of the Llanharan Drop-in Centre, “They soon relax and can focus on the task they are working on.”
“I suffered from a stroke a few years back and I lost a lot mentally. With the craft group I am able to leave the house and feel I’m in a safe place. I’m not Picasso but I feel great creating”
A painting by a member of the Happy Dayz Support Group
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Feature
The Happy Dayz members worked together to create these colorful murals
Although it has been challenging to provide these sessions during the lockdowns, the group have benefitted from having the opportunity to craft. “Making something tangible and working on a craft for a few weeks has provided a huge sense of achievement and belonging,” said Jane. A member of the group says it has been a crucial part of his lockdown experience. “I suffered from a stroke a few years back and I lost a lot mentally. With the craft group I am able to leave the house and feel I’m in a safe place. I’m not Picasso but I feel great creating,” he said. Despite the unquestionable benefits that crafting has for Welsh communities, funding is still a barrier to people accessing these activities.
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he Happy Dayz Group has been able to provide its vital sessions due to charity grants for local mental health support during the pandemic, but it is concerned for the future. The Drop-in Centre used to run adult community education classes provided by a local further education college, but funding cuts meant that these courses were drawn to a halt in September 2019.
The group’s funding stops in March, and Jane is nervous about finding more support for their vital mental health work in the community. “It is essential for long term funding to be provided for informal community services for all ages so people can have a focus and purpose, develop their skills and talents, and support their wellbeing with a sense of community and belonging,” said Jane. A member of the group added, “Arts and crafts are a therapy everyone should have open access to.”
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Similarly, Gemma wishes there was more funding for craft activities to help improve people’s mental health so she could reach the wider community in Cardiff. Financial difficulties brought on by the pandemic are currently preventing many customers from taking part. “I’ve got loads of customers who come to me and they openly say A member of the Happy Dayz Group looks forward to it’s the thing that gets enjoying Wales’ public spaces and beaches again them through the week so after the pandemic in this painting it’s quite hard knowing that I can’t reach them at the moment,” said Gemma. For people in Wales the simple act of crafting has provided a sense of purpose when the pandemic brought uncertainty into many lives. As the mental health impact of Covid-19 continues to be revealed, it is more important than ever than funding is provided so that everyone can access the powerful benefits of craft.
“Arts and crafts are a therapy everyone should have open
access to”
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How to g
et help
Call the Samarita ns on 116 123 for 24-h our confiden tial supp • Spea ort k to your GP • Acce ss resou rces on the Mind UK webs ite
The mental health impact of Covid-19 The pandemic had led many people to struggle with their mental health. According to Mind UK, lockdown made most people’s pre-existing mental health conditions worse, especially for frontline workers, disadvantaged groups and women. Many people also experienced poor mental health for the first time due to the unprecedented circumstances that Covid-19 has brought. Worryingly, a third of people did not reach out for support with their mental health during the first lockdown because they did not feel that they deserved it.