Pathway to Resilience, Mervyn Mitchell

MERVYN MITCHELL MA ARPS

Nottingham Photographer’s Hub (NPH)

Pathway to Resilience Project (2016 to 2019)

In 2010, I co-founded the NPH and our aim was to give a voice to marginalised people and communities, through bespoke community-based photography courses designed around beneficiary needs. Funded by the Big Lottery Community Fund we provided free photography courses to adults with mental ill health.

From the beginning we taught camera skills and a range of other personal development skills. Such as verbal / visual communication, Team building, Negotiating, Decision making and Interpersonal skills. This was accomplished by the learners developing a group photobook which comprised a series of images that provided a sequential step-bystep guide to coping with stressful situations and which they kept as an aid aide-mémoire to help them deal with challenging situations and in so doing help build their resilience. Each course concluded with an exhibition and Awards Ceremony where learners showcased their work to a wider audience and received their framed photographs alongside a portfolio of their images.

We believe that the learners wellbeing had improved after the 10 weeks course, but it was only anecdotal evidence. Such as;

“If you are looking through the camera lens you can divorce yourself from the situation and look at it in a different light, so it’s not just photography but wellbeing” Therefore between 2016 to 2019 (final year of funding) we asked the Research Support and Consultancy Service at the Institute of Mental Health based in Nottingham to carry out an empirical evaluation of the learners wellbeing. The key findings of the evaluation were: • Participants’ overall mental wellbeing improved when measured by the quantitative wellbeing scale (WEMWBS).

• Participants reported feeling less isolated, demonstrated by the improvement in WEMWBS scores relating to feeling close to other people.

• Participants reported increased confidence, demonstrated by the improvement in WEMWBS scores relating to feeling optimistic and useful.

• Participants reported increased resilience, demonstrated by the improvement in WEMWBS scores relating to dealing with problems well and thinking clearly.

It has been well documented for sometime how art can benefit people with mental ill health and as an organisation we are pleased that we have contributed in supporting adults over the past 9 years.

Please contact me at mervynmitchell@ntlworld.com if you wish to read the full report.

Mervyn Mitchell MA ARPS & Director Nottingham Photographer’s Hub