Thinking Inside and Outside the Box - Page 1

Trinity Winchester in partnership with Healthwatch Hampshire have  started an exciting creative community project.

Healthwatch is the independent consumer champion created to gather and represent the views of the public. It exists in two distinct forms – local Healthwatch and Healthwatch England, at national level. The aim of local Healthwatch is to give citizens and communities a stronger voice to influence and challenge how health and social care services are provided within their locality. Click here to visit Healthwatch's website

Trinity Winchester:

From humble beginnings, Trinity has grown into a respected and skilful organisation helping people to improve their lives. We provide vital practical and emotional support to around 800 people each year who are experiencing the effects of homelessness or vulnerability.
Our dedicated Women’s Service sees around 120 women each year. We support them to make positive change to their lives and in many cases break free from the damaging cycle of domestic abuse.

We aim to support individuals to change their situation and aspire towards positive fulfilling futures. Click here to visit Trinity Winchester's website

Thinking inside and outside the box

The creative undertaking is spearheaded by arts facilitator Alastair Eales and one of our highly trained Trinity Winchester project worker to develop a series of arts & crafts based workshops as a medium to record the experiences of disadvantaged and seldom heard people in accessing mental health services and more broadly their lives and experiences.  

The “Thinking inside and outside the box” project will see Trinity Winchester service users being given a keepsake box to decorate inside and out.  They will then use these boxes to tell the story of their involvement with and feelings towards mental health services, through whatever they choose to place inside and around the box.  

The service users are encouraged to use a wide range of mediums to turn their boxes into multi-sensory artworks, that may could embrace objects, smells, newspaper cuttings, photographs, and through the use of  MP3 players, sounds, interviews etc creating an holistic record of their life and experiences. 

"Cars are friends" Detail 1

"Cars are friends" Detail 2

"Cars are friends" Detail 3

Interview: "Tell me about your artwork?"

Anon: "My pet can sense when I am feeling sad, and she makes me feel better. My mental health has really improved since I got my cat two years ago. Sometimes she can make me frustrated, but I wouldn't swap her for all the tea in China - she is my best friend."