We're looking for young people passionate about the power of creativity!

We are very excited to to be a community partner in the Edge Hill University project – Arts4Us.

This project is one of the largest funding awards nationally for the arts, art therapies and children’s mental health. The project inherently values and invests in the power of community and creativity and the power these can have on young people.

NOW THAT’S SOMETHING WE CAN GET ON BOARD WITH!

Find out more in this video:

Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research and Innovation.Working together to scale up place-based arts initiatives that support the mental health of children and young people (CYP) (9-13).

The Arts4us project is a £2.5M AHRC funded project in collaboration with integrated care systems and community organisations including the Gregson! It focuses on the mental health of young people aged 9 to 13, a group at significant risk of developing mental health problems while transitioning from childhood to adolescence. The project will create an easy-to-use digital platform where evidence-based local arts activities can be made accessible for children and young people (CYP), their families and relevant organisations and services.

CYP will act as co-researchers maximising the benefits of arts activities that support their mental health. They will work jointly with community partners, health services and academic institutions to develop evaluative frameworks, digital material and good arts-based practice that will support the mental health of CYP in the Northwest.

WE ARE NOW LOOKING TO RECRUIT A YOUTH PANEL!

If you are or know folk aged between 9-15 years old that are passionate about the power of creativity, please ask them to be in touch.

We are looking to recruit young people with lived experience of mental health challenges can share their ideas about the project, helping us to shape the platform and understand the research data we will collect throughout the project. The group is focussed on making sure young people’s voices are heard, especially those who may not always see themselves represented. Unlike the study participants (children, young people, and their families), the Young Arts4Us group will act as co-researchers and ongoing advisors for all stages of the project.

While this is an open invitation, we are particularly interested in hearing from young people with lived experience of mental health challenges who meet at least one or multiple of the following: