Creative writing workshops on Felindre Ward

Emma Beynon is a writer and creative facilitator based in Mid Wales. Since the pandemic she has “led creative writing workshops on Zoom and face-to-face. Every workshop is carefully planned to guide participants through a series of exercises designed to fire up their creativity and strengthen their writing skills.”

Late last year Emma began facilitating creative writing workshops on Felindre Ward, the mental health inpatient ward in South Powys.

This week I caught up with Emma to find out more about more about the workshops and her creative writing work in general.

Tell us more about your role on Felindre Ward

Millie, the Occupational Therapist, invited me to attend to run creative writing workshops to compliment the work she already does on the ward. I’d already been running creative writing workshops online during Covid, working with Mid & North Powys Mind, and had a tremendous response.

Creative writing was part of the choice of activities people have during their stay on the ward.

What happened at the workshops

I came in for an hour every Wednesday for 11 weeks in total until the end of March 2022. There is an amazing creative room on Felindre Ward where they do pottery. I brought in a table cloth and objects such as flowers, feathers, rocks and postcards to soften the room and set up the table as if we were in a cafe.

I always start with a short warm up. It could be a playful question such as: If you were a packet of crisps what flavour would you be today? This would be followed by a ‘free write’. This technique is used by many professional writers to limber up.

Free writing invites participants to write without stopping, letting their thoughts flow onto paper. There is no wrong answer. The emphasis is upon catching ideas rather than worrying about spelling or punctuation. I find it is really useful to use a prompt when free writing, a starting point such as a shell, a feather -  something to hold and look at.

I might also let everyone choose a postcard of a painting and ask them to free write in response to that. If I can sense participants are stuck I ask questions about the painting. What do you see or hear? What do you smell, what textures might you sense? I invite them to draw upon memory. If people get stuck I encourage them to not let your pen stop moving! Just write “I don’t know what to write” until the stuckness stops. If people can look at me very grumpily – that’s fine – I smile and invite them to continue. I try and shift the parameters until they feel safe enough and ready to give it a go.

Free writing is a great way of focusing on the five senses and noticing too. Millie (OT) was the first to notice the link between creative writing and mindfulness, but during the course of the project many of the participants enjoyed making that link too.

I would then share a selection of poems: poems about nature, weather, working on building sites, even a ping pong ball. I wanted everyone to understand that poetry is a broad church, it can be about anything, not just flowers and feelings. We then read the poems aloud, line by line. This is often a wonderful moment of group performance where we all rely upon each other. Everyone’s voice brings a new meaning to the lines. After reading the poem a number of times we’d talk about about how the poem makes us feel, what we enjoy, what we don’t like.

I was very keen that everyone could be honest about what they felt about the poems, you do not have to like them, they were there to be discussed. I was really impressed by everyone’s response, it was always so detailed, evocative and yet always so true. I learnt so much from the group.

I will never forget the day we read The Door by Miroslav Holub, it is one of my favourite poems, I have read it so many times and always loved it. But this time when we read it, one of the participants just looked up, smiled and said ‘It’s about change’. I had never thought of that, to me it was about risk and opportunity. But they were right, it was great to witness everyone bring their own view of the world to strengthen our understanding. Inspired by the poem, the discussion or maybe just a line or image, everyone would be given the chance to write and they did!

How did the project come about?

As part of the HORIZON project led by Powys Teaching Health Board in partnership with Powys County Council. “HORIZON aims to strategically embed person-centred creativity at the heart of mental health and wellbeing practice.”

One of the aims of the HORIZON project is to learn about patient experiences through involvement in the arts.

Other creative interventions are being planned in Powys, including somatic experiencing and dance with people engaged in the Improving Cancer Journey, and clay modelling, sculpture making and printing workshops for young people at risk of substance misuse at the Mid Wales Arts Centre.

How do you support someone who says they can’t write?

A lot of people think creative writing is like the writing you did at school. But creative writing is completely different. I make this explicit at the start of the workshops when I introduce free writing. I explain that everyone has an individual voice which develops from what they notice. Creative writing is about capturing what you notice in words so there is no wrong answer. Creative writing, in its early stages,  is always messy, misspelt, and the punctuation can be wrong – but it doesn’t matter!

It’s a bit like a sport - you need to practice to get match fit. So I support people from the start to feel they can give it a go. During the project sometimes participants got stuck or did not want to write a particular poem so I would offer them an alternative. That’s the great thing about creative writing - it is very adaptable. Often when I find I get stuck with my own writing I just make myself write a list of questions or objects or thoughts or feelings and somehow this helps get over the ‘stuckness’.

What are the benefits of the creative arts, and specifically creative writing, for mental health inpatients?

A chance to relax

‘It was really relaxing because it does not matter what you write, there is no fear of judgement. If you hate it, so what? You don’t have to share it or go back to it if you don’t want to. Next time you will have a chance to develop different skills. It develops a resilience. It’s just about the person who is writing, the participants lead it, they can write what they like, they have control, they can share their views on a poem and then do what they like.’ Feedback from Occupational Therapist, Bronllys Secure Mental Health Unit.

Confidence

‘I feel as if my confidence in my own creative abilities has grown’. Mind Participant.

‘Creative writing gives me confidence, a voice and certainly an outlet to escape the daily pressures of life.’  Mind Participant.

‘They've made me feel about fitting in, and confidence to maybe not fit in, but still be a part of things?’  Mind Participant.

Companionship

‘You could see that they wanted each other to be good, they really listened. Sometimes out on the ward this does not happen.’  Feedback from Occupational Therapist, Bronllys Secure Mental Health Unit.

‘I love sharing our creations, I feel like I'm getting to know everyone a little better through the sharing of our work. It's beginning to feel like a family in a way’. Mind Participant

New skills and hobby

‘I have gained so much knowledge and confidence as well as interest to definitely try and find more courses to learn more skills in writing.’  Mind Participant.

‘I learnt how to have more structure to writing. I learnt how to write in a time frame without pondering too much and without over thinking. I learnt how to believe that what I write is worth more than to be lost on random bits of paper and thrown away when it's clear up time.’  Mind Participant.

‘I cannot thank you enough for connecting, engaging and inspiring me to write. I ask myself questions about what I am writing as you would at times. I enjoy stripping away words and using the magic of simple language. I will carry it on and what you have taught us I will carry with me always’. Mind Participant.

Participants on one of Emma's creative writing workshops in Newtown

What are the benefits to the providers of health services?

• Millie remarked positively on the way the workshop provided an escape from the ‘enclosed hospital environment of the ward’. Everyone shared all or part of their writing so we could imaginatively join them in Anglesey or out in the field in a valley somewhere in Mid Wales.
• The patient feels in control in an environment where they cannot control much as they control what they write about. If they like the poem and if they want to discuss/share it – it’s up to them.
• Patients are out of their room so can be assessed more easily.
• Concentration, motivation can be assessed as to whether they can concentrate throughout the duration of the group and then this can be monitored and compared to other weeks.
• Patients often feel a change in mood following the sessions as they have been off the ward (in the pottery room) which is a change of environment and so feel happier and brighter in mood.
• They can express themselves in a different means which they are comfortable about and say what they feel.
• It’s so good they get a chance to see the patient in a different and very positive light.

What happens to the creative work that the workshop participants produce?

My practice is all about process - those moments in the workshop rather than the outcome.

I bought notebooks for everyone, plus copies of poems to slip in. They all took their notebooks away and wrote in them in the evenings. They would often show me what they had written at the next session.

Those poems stayed in the notebooks and kick-started private writing and journaling.

Tell us about some of the more unusual places where you have held workshops over the years?

I once led writing workshops for the opening of a new Sustrans bicycle track in Paddington – it was a one-day celebration. Michael Bond, the author of ‘Paddington’, was there. It was difficult to start a workshop as people were milling around so I just went up to them and asked them to read ‘What If This Road,’ a poem by Sheenagh Pugh. Everyone loved the poem and they were keen to respond to it with a story or memory of hope for a road which I then scribed into a poem.

I do a lot of sailing and was sailing from Iceland to Greenland and got terribly seasick so they dropped me back in Iceland. There I was in NW Iceland when I was supposed to be in Greenland. I was feeling quite lonely and abandoned when I came across a tiny 1950s shoe shop which had been turned into a Museum of the Everyday. I went in there and talked to the girls who had started the Museum and within a week I was running writing workshops which developed into a residency every February in the town.

Do you have any other workshops coming up in Powys?

I have some new creative writing Workshops for Wellness starting on 21 April in Newtown in North Powys working in partnership with the Oriel Davies gallery.

We will try and capture the hidden beauty of Newtown’s parkland in words - noticing the changing seasons, the weather and wildlife. It’s about feeling good in body and mind and connecting us to the bigger picture.

Readings and reflections will also be shared to inspire participants to write as we explore Dolerw Park.

No previous experience is required, just curiosity and two hours of time on Thursday afternoons. Workshops are free of charge, funded through Welsh Government.

Workshop dates: April 21, 28 and May 5, 12, 19 & 26, 2 – 4pm.

Feedback from workshop participants

'I like it – poetry is a little like mindfulness.'

'I really enjoyed it.'

'I like it – it's random.'

Feedback from staff

‘It was really relaxing.’

‘I liked it, I enjoyed it. M enjoyed it and engaged much more than I thought he would be. I was surprised when he shared his first poem. It was good.’

A big thank you to Emma for telling us all about the creative writing workshops on Felindre Ward and other aspects of her writing life.

If you want to find out more about Emma Beynon’s work check out her website. You can contact Emma here and find her on Instagram here.

HORIZON is strategic, action-based pilot project designed to inform the production of the Creative Arts, Health & Wellbeing Strategy (led by Powys Teaching Health Board in partnership with Powys County Council) by providing arts interventions for people experiencing mental ill health across a whole range of areas. HORIZON aims to capture the patient voice / service user story around their creative experiences. The project is funded and supported by the Powys Teaching Health Board Charitable Fund and Powys County Council.

Powys Patients’ Council - Growing a Garden

"Time and activity in Nature is good for us."

by Owen Griffkin, Powys Patients' Council Facilitator

One of the requests that comes up regularly when we hold Patients’ Council sessions on the Felindre Acute Mental Health ward in south Powys is gardening activities. Unfortunately until recently this has been difficult to organise due to health and safety reasons but we have been speaking to the occupational therapist on the ward, Millie Griffiths, about ways in which this could be provided.

I am a big believer in the power of gardening to improve mental and physical health and advocate for people to use ‘The Five Ways to Wellbeing’ to do this. In my view it helps you achieve all the goals in the Five Ways, (be active, take notice, keep learning, connect with others and give). It’s a skill that people can take with them when they leave the ward, and maybe join one of the many local groups to help their recovery. At the bottom of this article I have listed some local groups you can get involved with.

This is why we have been so keen to see activities on the ward, and we are delighted that Millie has been working hard to get regular gardening sessions on the ward recently. We asked Millie to give a quick overview of what they have been doing. 

MIllie Griffiths — Mental Health Occupational Therapist

In June 2020 there was an enclosed garden situated between Felindre Ward and Defynnog Ward which was unused. 

The old garden

We had no gardening group on the ward and research published in the Mental Health Journal has shown gardening as being able to “reduce stress and improve mood with a reduction in symptoms of depression and anxiety,” (Thrive - a charity that has been using social therapeutic horticulture and gardening to change people’s lives since 1979). You can read more about why gardening is good for your mental wellbeing on the Thrive website.

Using Sir Captain Tom Moore Covid funds we were able to purchase planters and a plastic greenhouse which has enabled us to facilitate a gardening group for patients on Felindre Ward. We have been able to grow vegetables which we have then used in cooking groups, as well as flowers. This has enabled us to promote healthy living and spending time outside, as well as providing patients with a better outlook when they look out of their window.

From garden to kitchen!

On the ward we have weekly patient meetings, as well as fortnightly Patients' Council meetings, where it has been frequently suggested by patients that we have a gardening group. Due to the expression of interest, unused space, and research into gardening and mental health, we set up the group. I am not a gardener, nor do I know much, however through the use of Google, books and other staff/patients’ knowledge we have been able to set up the group which we hope to continue to develop to create a space patients can enjoy.

Community gardens across Powys

If you would like to get involved in a gardening project near you here are some you can try out:

Brecon & District Mind's Green Minds Project in Brecon Cathedral and other areas in South Powys.

Read more about this project on our separate blogpost - Green Minds Ecotherapy Project - South Powys

Photo credit: Laura Tranter

Llandrindod Community Garden/Transition Project - Runs a community orchard/pomarium and food garden as well as holding regular meetings to improve sustainability in Llandrindod Wells.

Newtown - Cultivate: Cultivate is a cooperative, run by volunteers and employees who are dedicated to supporting a resilient local food economy.

Newtown - Ponthafren: Regular gardening activities - details on their new activities calendar.

Ystradgynlais - The volunteers will be returning to the community garden project that was on the hospital grounds very soon. Watch this space, or keep an eye on local bulletins, for more info.

Machynlleth - Gerddi Bro Ddyfi Gardens provides and promotes a therapeutic community wildlife garden for all people in the Bro Ddyfi area, and especially those at risk of social exclusion. They will be restarting activities after a Covid break soon.

We would love to hear what you think about the benefits of therapeutic gardening and if you have joined in any of the activities at these community gardens. Comment below and also suggest other gardens you know where people could volunteer.

A peaceful patio at Felindre Ward

Citizens Advice Powys - supporting mental health inpatients

Yasmin Bell is the Chief Officer at Citizens Advice Powys, the charity which “provides the advice people need for the problems they face and improves the policies and practices that affect people's lives.”

The charity recently launched a new pilot project to benefit the inpatients on the mental health Felindre Ward at Bronllys Hospital in South Powys. We spoke to Yasmin to find out more about this important work.

Tell us more about the project

Owen Griffkin, the Powys Patients’ Council facilitator, and the Occupational Therapy (OT) team on Felindre Ward, had been talking to us over the last year about setting up an inpatient advice service. We want to support patients with various issues which are acting as barriers for them wanting to return home and on their recovery process generally. We will continue supporting them once they are at home.

One of the OTs said that some patients, escorted to their homes on day release, had become more anxious upon arriving at a freezing cold home and finding a huge amount of mail / bills. It’s not a very welcoming scenario!

In the long term we would ideally provide support so that people don’t go on the ward in the first place.

How does the support work?

We did a similar project on Felindre Ward about 10 years ago and staff remembered how useful that was supporting people on their recovery journey. At that time a Citizens Advice advisor from Brecon went onto the ward to see people. With Covid we are using video appointments. The ward has iPads available and supports patients to access the platform and then we take it from there.

There’s quite a lot of work we do with the team before we meet the client – every individual can be different. Some people can be uncomfortable about speaking to someone about their issues. In that case the OT will work closely with us to find out what kind of help is available before going back to the person to give a flavour of the advice that could be provided. This usually results in the person then taking an appointment and with a better insight of what help can be provided.

Some of the original project outcomes included – less hospital staff time spent on advice issues, improved patient engagement with treatment, reduced barriers to patient discharge, clients feel more able to stay in their own home and in control of their lives, and improved mental health. The support enables independence, self-management and clients receiving all benefits they are entitled to.

Why was the work of Powys Patients’ Council invaluable in setting up this project?

Owen and the PPC volunteers had been speaking to people on the ward and through this helped identify the need for a direct advice service to support people.

We’ve had a lot of positive comments. One patient said: “I had an appointment with Citizens Advice today and they were excellent. They were able to help with my pet and some money issues.”

How is the project funded and for how long?

This pilot project is funded by a recent Powys Teaching Health Board Small Grants scheme. It lasts for 4 months so will end at the end of May. Through this pilot we will determine the level of demand and the feasibility of the service.

Tell us about some of the everyday issues facing people on the ward and how your service can help?

We identified that it was particularly important to help patients report their change of circumstances with regard to any benefits. Once discharged their benefits can be reinstated with our help. Citizens Advice Powys can also take responsibility for contacting any third parties and putting a hold on any action pending, for example, debt repayments, until that person is able to deal with them. It’s also important to inform the third party that Citizens Advice is helping the person.

We also make sure people are getting all the right benefits – we carry out an Income Maximisation Check – looking at the person’s whole situation. In many cases it can be quite complex – other benefits can be triggered or stopped. We act to make sure there is no detrimental impact on the person.

What is Attend Anywhere?

That is the video platform we use – it is used by the NHS across Wales for consultations with specialists. It’s similar to Zoom or Microsoft Teams but it’s almost like an office set up with a reception, and five interview rooms. It does mean people can have a family member or support person with them in the interview. Language interpreters, including British Sign Language interpreters, can also be included as part of the free service we provide.

Has Covid had an impact on people’s concerns / issues?

There has been a huge increase in people receiving Universal Credit which is a very complex benefit – so people do need support with this. Employment enquiries have also gone up. We are encountering people who have never had to claim benefits or ever had financial difficulties before – so people could become patients on a mental health ward because they’ve never had to deal with that level of poverty before.

Issues are much more complex than they were ten years ago. For example, with a debt client, the level might be the same but the client may owe debts to numerous different creditors where previously it would have been one or two. Then there is the added issue where creditors sell the debt on and on – and trying to unpick it all is a lot of work.

Covid has also added a level of frustration through not being able to get through to departments they need to speak to like the Department for Work & Pensions and energy providers. We can help speed up the process.

We also support people on three-way video or telephone calls with the Citizens Advice advisor doing all the necessary work whilst the client sits in the call. There is no cost to the person themselves for this support.

If people don’t receive the support they need, what could happen to them?

People who have been stressed previously can feel much more optimistic and calm about the situation. Long term if we receive continuation funding we would like to start looking at whether people go back into the hospital if they have received support. If issues have been going on too long it is harder to resolve them so we want to do more preventative work, help people understand what we do and just basically say – don’t be scared about getting in touch.

If we are supporting someone with a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claim we have to talk about their physical and mental health. We also support people through tribunals and hearings. People open up and perhaps admit for the first time some of the issues facing them which can be very traumatic for them to accept.

What are Citizens Advice Powys’s main priorities outside Felindre Ward?

It’s about early intervention, about making sure our services are accessible and available to everybody in different ways and working out the different access options. We want to build a service where we don’t assume everyone wants face to face or telephone. So we offer video also, some web chat, and contact by email. We want to raise awareness and stop people getting to really complex situations – it’s about averting a crisis.

Which other Powys organisations do you work closely with to provide support to people?

This is happening more than ever before. We’re working with Accessibility Powys to facilitate appointments and advice sessions that are accessible to people with physical or sensory impairments – trying out different methods and equipment. There are a lot of people out there who, if not in receipt of this service, would not have had any advice. There are people who have been shielding and isolating who have not had any support for the past year or so.

In the last 3 months we have had a 20% increase in formal referrals (statutory and third sector agencies) and also seen a 50% increase from mental health teams. So we’ve done a lot of raising awareness sessions – every Wednesday we invite someone to come and talk to our team about the work they do which has been really beneficial – this means we can signpost to other services confidently too.

What are the main challenges of the project?

Client engagement is one of the biggest challenges generally if someone is struggling with their mental health. Sometimes people feel less anxious if they can turn their video off. So it can be small things that help. We try and think outside the box constantly to come up with a solution that works best for that person.

Some of the appointments can be lengthy so we split them into two sessions. If it’s a complicated PIP application you could spend up to 3 hours on that – so it’s managing the length of the appointment to suit the person.

Another challenge is ensuring we have all the right consent forms and paperwork completed. The OT team on the ward have been acting as our administrators in respect of these. It’s still a benefit to them though as they can then concentrate on the work they do best and leave the advice for us. It’s all about team work! So that’s a positive really!

Tell us about some of the most rewarding aspects of this project

The feedback from patients has been very rewarding: for example, one man said after receiving support he felt he was able to go home and contact the utility company and sort out the issue himself. (We would, of course, follow up afterwards to ensure it all worked out).

Knowing that people understand where they can seek help and are better able to manage.

One person was helped to reinstate a PIP claim and said of the advisor: “She was very kind, clear and helpful about my concerns. I found this extremely helpful over a subject I have been worrying about over the last years.”

When you are not working for Citizens Advice Powys how do you enjoy spending your time?

I do a lot of coastal path walking. My aim is to walk the whole coastal path of Wales. So far I’ve done a third of it.

I also volunteer as a Cadet Leader for Newtown Police Cadets and assist the cadets doing their Duke of Edinburgh Award. I recently completed my DoE expedition assessor qualification.

If you want to find out more about Powys Citizens Advice you can contact Yasmin by ringing 01686 617641 or email: manager@powyslca.org