"Real, inspiring and creative": Reflections on a social prescribing conference with a twist

Tuesday 4^th October 2022 saw our first Dudley Social Prescribing Conference at Brierley Hill Civic Hall. We wanted to imagine something a little different to that of a typical conference. Our aim was to invite guests to experience first-hand some of the amazing provision that is on offer in and around Dudley. We have some exceptional artists, facilitators and creatives who deliver inspiring and supportive projects for the people that we support. To get a feel for the type of activities Link Workers refer into, we invited organisations that we work with to join us and host practical workshops. Guests could then take away items that they had made or created, enhance their own health and wellbeing and hopefully get a deeper understanding of what Social Prescribing is all about and why it’s so very vital. The calming sound of birds’ song accompanied our conference, along with a woodland theme to recreate the connection with nature, that the people we support benefit from.

The day was carefully split into three one-hour workshops, giving guests the opportunity to have a go at wet felting, copper craft, drawing elements in nature or team building, as well as an information session entitled ‘Ask A Link Worker’ where guests were given the opportunity to have an informal chat with Link Workers and the Listening and Guidance team from Integrated Plus, Cranstoun Here4YOUth and DIHC. The session enabled guests to find out more about their specific roles and to get a clearer overview of the often complex and varied work that they do daily. Questions were answered about the referral process, a typical day in the life of a Link Worker, the highs, and the lows and importantly ‘what exactly is social prescribing?’

Alongside an action-packed creative day, we invited people who had previously been supported to bravely share stories of their individual journeys and their roads to recovery. Many of them supported the facilitation of the workshops, sharing the skills that they have learnt with our guests. We were honoured to hear Ami share an inspirational case study about her journey and road to recovery. Ami now gives her time as an Integrated plus allotment volunteer and a community buddy, supporting others on their journey. We gained a rare insight into the often lonely and difficult issues that the people we work with encounter, and we were able to share in the positive outcomes of when and how social prescribing has made a huge difference. There were a few tears shed!

Many of our Integrated Plus volunteers were on hand for the event to help guide guests to their designated workshops, get people a brew, as well as having the chance to share with guests how being a volunteer and giving back makes a difference to their lives. We couldn’t have done it without them and wanted to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all our wonderful volunteers.

Below is a little more detail of some of the wonderful organisations commissioned through the Dudley CVS Voluntary Sector Social Prescribing Fund, many of whom have been supported over the years by the Dudley CVS group development team, who helped to make the conference a success:

Creative Health is a Community Interest Company delivering creative wellbeing work to adults and young people. It gives people a rare opportunity to learn artistic skills and have a break from the stress of everyday life. They host a ‘Walk and Draw’ group in Priory Park welcoming some of the people we support, who have migrated to Dudley from all around the globe, to connect with nature, meet new friends and use varied art forms to create something original each week. In fact, one of our talented Walk and Draw participants, David, co-hosted the workshop teaching the guests the fundamentals of drawing cartoons. The workshop involved observing, touching, and drawing objects from nature such as leaves, shells and stones.

Riverside House is a social regeneration project in Stourbridge that provides a variety of traditional craft activities in a beautiful setting, aiming to improve the wellbeing and quality of life of its participants. Their workshop provided the opportunity for participants to learn new wet felting skills and they really enjoyed it! Water, soap and elbow grease was involved and a host of unique felt masterpieces were created, all with a direct link to nature and the benefits of green social prescribing.

Challenge Academy are a Community Interest Company based at Baggeridge Country Park, they run sessions which help to improve wellbeing, confidence, and mental toughness through a range of team building and outdoor wellbeing activities. Challenge Academy hosted an exciting team building workshop where guests were given the opportunity to put their teamwork and communication skills to the test, roll up their sleeves and have a go at some of the practical group activities delivered from their “Bags of Character” kit.

Ekho Collective are a Community Interest Company based at Hawbush Community Gardens. They foster wellness through holistic approaches to people’s health and wellbeing. This female trio provide a variety of different workshops and activities in a beautiful woodland setting. The groups provide a warm welcome around the campfire for those who just want to chat. Their workshop provided a chance to try copperwork which involved cutting sheets of thin copper into small items such as leaves or hearts, suitable for making into a necklace. Inspiration was taken from the table which was festooned with objects from nature.

To round off the day we were honoured to be joined by local artist and poet, Claire Tedstone, who stunned everyone with her beautiful poetry, one which bravely shared her personal story and another which summed up her observations from the day. She also shared a poem about the Walk and Draw group, written by local poet Rick Sanders who was unable to join us on the day.

Andy Gray, Chief Officer at Dudley CVS reminded guests of how far social prescribing come, since the early days of Integrated Plus back in 2014 and the need to celebrate the journey so far. He spoke of how social prescribing can only be effective if it’s delivered hand in hand with a thriving voluntary and community sector, which continues to need investment. Without this investment, we run the risk of having “too many travel agents and not enough holidays.”

We would like to thank everyone who came along to the conference and to those who helped to make the day a big success. For those of you that couldn’t make it, please check out the videos below and for those of you that did, why not take the opportunity to re-live the day and share it with your colleagues.

Piotr Gass (Strategic Commissioning and Transformation Lead – Mental Health) said:

“Fantastic and very informative event on social prescribing, full of passion and inspirational individuals. Dudley citizens can be proud of some of the most innovative and pioneering social prescribing services in the country. Exceptional work by all involved.”

This video shares with you some of the highlights from the day:

This videos outlines the journey of social prescribing in Dudley to date: