Start in Manchester

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Case Study - Mental Health
Start in Manchester
Setting the standards in Arts & Mental Health

“Coming to Start has helped me achieve things I never imagined..”

Through the medium of art and gardening, Start helps people who have experienced mental ill-health to get back on the road to recovery. From it base in Manchester, Start uses a people-centred approach to help its clients learn new skills, regain self-confidence, and move on to futures of their choice. Start’s facilities include painting, mosaics, textiles, ceramics, gardening and photography.

Start is a multiple and international award-winning arts, activity and mental health service funded by Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust. Start has been established since 1986 and is considered one of the leading models for arts and mental health work in the country (Social Exclusion Unit mapping exercise and report 2003).

Start use arts activities to help people recover from serious mental illness, develop coping strategies around health needs and maintain good mental health. There is considerable evidence that structured, high-quality arts interventions have positive benefits to mental health, and Start uses this evidence as a base for its methods.

Alongside a multi-disciplinary team of Artists, Occupational Therapists and a Horticulturalist, service users work towards a range of long-term goals, some of which have to do with paid employment. Despite complex needs, Start believes that each person has the same potential as anyone else to achieve in the public arena, through meaningful occupation.

“I haven’t felt this optimistic since I was 17…”

“My sisters say they’ve got their sister back…”

“Start gave me confidence to go on to college – it’s a dream come true for me…”

“Understanding art helped me to understand myself”

“I found the confidence to talk to others”

Contact Wendy Teall, Lead Artist
E-mail : wendy.teall@mhsc.nhs.uk Tel : 0161 257 0675