Hi. My name is Jess and I have been working for SelfharmUK (which is part of a bigger young people's charity called Youthscape) for just over three years now. As well as running the SelfharmUK website, I also spend one day a week running face-to-face groups and activities with young people either in school or at our drop in space here in the Youthscape building in Luton.
For a long time now, it's been one of my dreams to set up an art and wellbeing project for young people. If you're not sure what the word 'wellbeing' means, let me explain... Your wellbeing is pretty much how well you look after yourself. You do this through six important actions - thinking, talking, eating, resting, moving and doing.
THINKING 💭
...is all about making sure you think positively about yourself and your life as often as possible.
TALKING 💬
...is all about making sure you talk to other people about how you're feeling and don't keep things bottled up inside.
MOVING 🏃♀️
...is all about exercising but doing activities that you enjoy doing.
DOING 🤝
...is all about doing things for other people (and yourself).
EATING 🍽
...is all about eating the right foods but also enjoying what you eat.
RESTING 😴
...is all about making sure you get enough sleep and time for yourself to chill out.
Now that you know what wellbeing is and what comes under it, let me tell you more about the project I'm going to be running.
'Created' is an eight week programme which will run here at Youthscape on Monday 29th April 2019. On the programme, you will learn all about how to use art to look after you wellbeing, and we will be making art pieces related to the six themes above. At the end, there will be an exhibition of everyone's art work, and you'll be able to invite your family and friends along to come and see it!
If you LOVE art, are in year 7, 8 or 9 at high school, and live or go to school in Luton or the surrounding area, you can email me to find out a bit more information 😄🎨