“Through the centuries people around the world have found joy and comfort through creativity. Be it music, art, poetry, performance or craftsmanship, the power of expression through the creative arts brings benefit to our mental wellbeing and sense of self.
I am extremely proud to welcome this book which is bursting with messages of positivity, hope and recovery. Each unique page celebrates an individual journey and gives us an opportunity to pause and reflect. I am confident you will discover something new with every page you turn and I hope you feel inspired, as I do, by seeing the contributions from individuals across our services.
As you flick through this book, please take note of the positive sentiments, uplifting words and sources of support. In our busy lives we often don’t take the time to consider the little things that make us grateful, or to reflect on an achievement that we are proud of, but it can often be those little things that make us smile and contribute positively to our self-esteem and wellbeing.
Please join me in celebrating the wonderful works contained in these pages and let’s continue to harness the power of art in mental health recovery.”
Dr Tony Romero CEO,
Cygnet Health Care
“As Cygnet Health Care’s Senior Independent Director and a longstanding supporter of rethinkyourmind, I am delighted to see that these two organisations have come together to produce the Cygnet Yellow Book.
This is a unique collection of artworks from talented individuals across Cygnet services. It celebrates individuality, encourages expression and demonstrates how creativity can help to nurture self-confidence and wellbeing.
Around one in four adults and one in ten children experience poor mental health during their lifetime. We know that many people with mental health problems can get better and many go on to recover completely. But we also know that people going through a period of poor mental health can find life difficult to cope with and can feel isolated and alone.
Evidence has shown that the actions we take and the way we think and feel about ourselves and our lives will have the biggest impact. Therefore, I believe we can support our wellbeing through creativity and good mental wellbeing can help us achieve our goals in life such as maintaining a home, a job and relationships.
The artists and artworks displayed in the Cygnet Yellow Book strongly demonstrate this and I hope you find this book as enjoyable and inspiring as I do.”
Professor Lord Patel of Bradford, OBE
“Since being a service user within in-patient mental health settings myself, the sector and the way care is delivered has transformed. We are rapidly seeing a more recovery oriented way of supporting people with lived experience.
Focussing on people’s assets as opposed to their deficits and embracing expression through music, art, poetry and other forms of creativity has opened up the door to innovative ways of “ evidence based interventions that help alleviate symptoms.
The yellow book is an important step in both providing a platform and recognising the importance of service user led projects. This projects represents that it is not only medication and psychological interventions that can support people, but through empowering people’s talents and abilities too.”
Raf Hamaizia, Expert By Experience Lead,
Cygnet Health Care
The Selected Artwork & Photography – well done to all!
Click images below to flick through & enjoy!
“At Cygnet Health Care we are incredibly proud to have a wealth of creative talent across our services. We regularly share our service users’ artwork, poetry, music, photography and other creative projects across our different platforms. We receive a lot of very positive feedback, which provides a real boost to those involved and brings positive benefits to their mental wellbeing.
During the various lockdowns of the Covid-19 pandemic many of us across the country used creative outlets to pass the time, keep ourselves occupied, learn new skills or improve our hobbies or interests. Our service users also used the time to channel their artistic skills and we were so impressed by the huge range of talent we saw. We were keen to share it more widely and our collaboration with the Yellow Book came at the perfect time. It was one of those ‘meant to be moments’.
It has been a pleasure to curate this selection of work and bring together our very own Cygnet Yellow Book. Every piece tells a story or has someone’s personal experience running through it.
We hope you enjoy this book as much as we have enjoyed putting it together.”
Lucy Scarborough Laura Bates
Group Communications Manager Head of Marketing