You, Me, Together. Arts initiative gets pupils in MK Schools talking about mental health and wellbeing

“The way I know mental health, is when people have big barriers in front of them and they can’t get through it”

In a survey of 338 Schools in 2016, 55% had experience a large increase in cases of stress and anxiety amongst young people. In an evolving initiative to understand and support young people’s mental health and wellbeing, Milton Keynes Council Public Health and NHS Milton Keynes Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) created an innovative project called You, Me, Together, supported with investment from Artswork, the South East Bridge, and delivered in partnership with the MK Cultural Education Partnership (led by Arts & Heritage Alliance Milton Keynes).

The creative learning charity, Artis, worked with 150 young people and children in four Milton Keynes schools. The aim of this project was to gain a better understanding of how children and young people in MK perceived mental health, to get them to understand and identify mental health and wellbeing in others (you), in themselves (me), and to support each other (together).

Jill Wilkinson, Director of Health and Social Care Integration at NHS Milton Keynes Clinical Commissioning Group and Chair of the Children and Young Peoples Mental Health and Wellbeing Transformation Programme said: “Our commitment to the mental health and wellbeing of the children and young people in Milton Keynes is one of the key aims of the CCG. We commissioned the You, Me, Together film as we were keen to hear from the voices of children on whose behalf we commission mental health services. We have continued to invest in child and adolescent mental health services and to work across the whole system to improve their overall experience.”
Muriel Scott, Director of Public Health at MK Council said: “To learn more about how young people and children understand mental health and wellbeing, we needed to ask the experts –the young people themselves. This project not only helped schools engage with what mental health and wellbeing is and why it’s so important to talk about it, but it also gave us a great insight into how young people perceive it and express it. I’m incredibly proud of how well the project worked and I’m confident it’ll help us to help the young people and children in MK.”

A film about the project was created to raise awareness of mental health and wellbeing in young people, what it means to them and to open up a conversation. What is mental health and wellbeing and what can we all do to improve things?

Annual Report 2012 -13

Godiva Awakes

AHA-MK exists to promote, develop and represent the arts and heritage of Milton Keynes.

How do we do it?

We promote, lobby and represent… We support, develop and train… We network, share and inform… Above all we collaborate.

This year our members have contributed to:

  • Over 5,000 inspiring events in Milton Keynes
  • 1,241,370 visits made to them
  • £18,250,000 of turnover
  • 1,600 workshops for participants of all ages
  • 1,700 volunteering opportunities

With a mission to bring together organisations that create exciting experiences in art and heritage, AHA-MK promotes Milton Keynes’  unique identity to local,regional and national audiences.

Achievements 2012 – 13
  • Contributed to a successful Summer of Culture, which drew in 161,000 attendees and produced a total economic impact of £6.4m gross.
  • Supported MK Festival Fringe in delivering their biggest festival yet, including street performance, theatre, dance, music, workshops and the first ever MK Walking with Giants Parade.
  • Advocated on behalf of members, e.g. by contributing to MK Council’s consultations on assessing the community’s health and well-being, business rate relief, and the development of a Local Infrastructure Plan.
  • Celebrated members’ work and their venues through Heritage Open Days and Arts and Heritage Open Places.
  • Secured Arts Council England funding to develop a Summer of Culture legacy project to encourage cross-programming and cross-marketing.
  • Delivered CPD sessions addressing the interface between museums and the arts, digital engagement, audience segmentation, how arts and heritage organisations can best work with schools, the Summer of Culture legacy, and the joys and sorrows of governance.

 

AHA-MK Annual Report 2012 – 2013
www.aha-mk.org / chair@aha-mk.org
All information relates to the accounting year April 2012 – March 2013