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Need and Impact

Without support it can be difficult to find a way forward through a very lonely, frightening and confusing time.

Arty-Folks works with young people 16+ and adults in Coventry and Warwickshire who find themselves at a low point in life and are struggling with a wide range of mental health challenges including

  • diagnosed or self-diagnosed mental ill health and conditions such as depression, anxiety, panic attacks, OCD
  • long term and complex mental health conditions such as psychosis, PTSD, schizophrenia, eating disorders and other personality disturbances

Mental ill health is a very isolating experience and continues to be stigmatised despite great efforts by national campaigns.  It affects the health and wellbeing of people from diverse backgrounds

  • employees on sick leave and at risk of escalating mental stress into more complex and enduring conditions
  • those with no contact with mental health services fearing prejudice and stigma that comes with a diagnoses
  • those who are assessed as below the threshold for inventions by statutory services but who are unable to function without support
  • those who have been discharged from mental health hospitals and are looking to rebuild their lives

Art is a powerful tool that is able to spark that human drive to explore, to learn, and
against all odds to succeed.

The people we support feel stuck with poor mental health and are some of our most marginalised and socially isolated.

From them we learn how social and economic inactivity impacts on their self-esteem, their physical health and mental well-being, as well as their hope for recovery and a better future.

The strain on people’s mental health and wellbeing is continuing to rise.  In Coventry alone around 67,000 people between 16-74 years old have a diagnosed common mental health disorder and most are assessed as below the threshold to receive specialist mental health support.

A medical diagnosis can offer relief at the start by labelling the problem but on the other hand it can also disempower by focusing on difficulties and disorders for which there is no straight forward solution.

The burden on the NHS and the economy due to mental illness is often pointed out. But, what concerns us most at Arty-Folks is the human costs to the individual, their family and friends, and our wider community.

Our commitment to helping our service users transform their lives is backed by robust impact measurement.  We use a range of quantitative and qualitative evaluation methods at quarterly intervals that shows a significant positive impact within 3 months of regular attendance.

Our bespoke database logs immediate and long term needs and measures progress made against personal action plans.

To read more about our work and our impact take a look at our Annual Report 2023/24.

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