Arts and Wellbeing project

A consortium of organisations including Living Well Moyle, Northern Health and Social Care Trust, Northern Ireland Screen and Arts Care have launched an Arts and Wellbeing project that will see a programme of activities taking place in Ballycastle and Bushmills over the month of March.
By The Newsroom
Published 7th Mar 2017, 14:02 BST
Updated 24th Mar 2017, 11:09 BST

Local residents will be able to take part in creative writing, photography and dance workshops. The project aims to show the benefits of creativity to well-being and to make the arts more accessible to those members of the community to whom it is frequently inaccessible. It also aims to improve the quality of life of participants.

The project will explore archive footage of the Moyle area from the Northern Ireland Screen Digital Film Archive and this will be used to generate themes for the workshops. Workshops will take place on Wednesdays in the Presbyterian Church Hall in Ballycastle and Thursday in Dunluce Parish centre, Bushmills.

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The Moyle art and wellbeing project will culminate in a showcase event and tea dance in Ballycastle on March 31.

Damien Coyle General Manager Arts Care explained: “The arts and wellbeing project in Moyle is a good example of how working in partnership with local groups can open up access to creativity to people who may now have been involved in the art before and to show how arts can improve the quality of their lives and general wellbeing.”

Nicola Arbuckle and Yvonne Carson from the Northern Trust’s Health and Wellbeing Team are both involved with the project added: “These workshops are a great way for people who are unable to get out and about often to be become more socially and physically active. As well as contributing to positive health and wellbeing, this also provides an opportunity for participants to meet new friends and learn a new skill or rediscover an old one.

Sam Cunningham Living Well coordinator concluded: “Living Well seeks to support people who are perhaps dealing with loss and ongoing health issues and some of these people have become isolated and disconnected from the outside world. We know that people are happiest and healthiest as active, valued members of their communities, irrespective of their health conditions. The arts and well being project is a vital link in the work of Living Well.”

Anyone wishing to find out more about the workshops can contact Sam Cunningham on 07971389488.

Related topics:WellbeingArtsNorthern Health and Social Care TrustBushmills