It's Pride Month and to celebrate, we're sharing a small selection of LGBTQ+ creative health programmes and projects around the country.
In Brighton, the Wild Mind Project is restoring a neglected green space through creative nature programmes for the young LGBTQ+ community. Activities include learning about and caring for nature, gardening activities, mindfulness activities and traditional creative activities such as foraging for plant dyes or cooking ingredients, whittling wood or weaving yarn.
In Bath, Pride at the Holburne will run over 2 days and aims to increase the engagement of the local community with Queer arts and culture through talks, creative workshops, films, cabaret, and silent discos. The event has been developed by the Holburne Future Collective – made up of Holburne Volunteers aged 15-25 – in partnership with Bath Arts Collective.
In Liverpool, National Museums Liverpool has worked with Switchboard to develop an LGBTQ+ app package within the "My House of Memories" app:
Working with those living with dementia and identifying proudly as members of the LGBTQ+ community, LGBTQ+ Memories represents their history. Stories of protest, rainbow families and memories of key moments within the LGBTQ+ community are highlighted through objects that have been collected by the people who lived these memories themselves.
Our regional champion in the north east, Equal Arts, has developed Handing on our History, a series of podcasts exploring the history of LGBTQI+ activism: "For the past year the cross-generational project has supported students to capture the oral history of those involved in the first North East Pride events, fought against discriminatory laws like Section 28 and campaigned for LGBT rights during the 1970s and 80s."
Equal Arts is also about to start a project with Curious Arts working with older people and LGBTQIA+ artist training programmes. Curious Arts, based in Newcastle, will be running the Curious Ball on 15 June – "an unforgettable celebration of the North East’s LGBTQIA+ culture". Curious Arts also run the Curious Festival, founded in 2016,
to explore and celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual + culture through the arts. Working in partnership with arts and community organisations across the region, Curious Festival’s exciting programme of events provides a safe space for LGBTQIA+ communities and allies to be Curious. Creating a platform for LGBTQIA+ artists, creatives and young people to be visible, represented and celebrated.
Next Door But One is an LGBTQ+ and disability-led Theatre company based in York, promoting creative skills and encouraging community cohesion, particularly with those who face barriers to accessing theatre. Our established programme focuses on workshops and performances for and with cohorts of the community with disabilities, mental ill health, those experiencing bereavement, those who are carers and individuals from the LGBTQ+ community. Their activity ranges from workshops to touring performances, training programmes and professional development opportunities.
If you're interested in exploring further, Jane Hearst, NCCH Creative Health Associate, recently wrote about The Place of Creative Health in LGBTQIA+ Personalised Care, and looks at "some of the unique mental health needs associated with LGBTQIA+ communities", spotlighting the way a selection of Creative Health provisions have been designed and adapted around these needs, using examples from different local contexts.
Meanwhile Summer Pride in Sheffield is a great opportunity to
Celebrate Pride in Sheffield this summer, with everything from art exhibitions exploring queer culture, film screenings of ground-breaking LGBTQ+ stories, to insightful talks and of course, fabulous parties!
Thank you to our regional champions and our friends at the National Lottery Heritage Fund for suggesting these programmes!