Six Pillars Makes an Impact
Six Pillars Health & Wellbeing Project Case Study
Six Pillars was an arts and wellbeing programme, commissioned by the Healthy North East Derbyshire Partnership and the Bolsover Partnership with funding from Derbyshire County Council. The Project was led by Junction Arts in partnership with Direct Education Business Partnership.
Project Objectives:
In March 2022 Public Health committed funds in support of ‘Emotional Health and Wellbeing of Children and Young People’ and the commissioners (North East Derbyshire District Council on behalf of Public Health) were looking to appoint an organisation or consortium to deliver the overarching aim of improving the emotional well-being of young people in North East Derbyshire & Bolsover using a preventative tailored place-based approach.
Junction Arts, in collaboration with Direct Education Business Partnership CIO, aimed to deliver regular creative sessions to support the emotional well-being of young people aged 11 to 18 years (up to age 25 years for young people with Special Education Needs and. Disabilities, SEND). To build resilience, raise aspirations, and recognise the attributes of young people.
The ‘Six Pillars’ title was influenced by psychotherapist Dr Nathaniel Branden’s notion that there are six pillars of self-esteem,
“Self-esteem is like a castle that sits atop six strong pillars and serves as a foundation for your life.”
- The Practice of Living Consciously
- The Practice of Self-Acceptance
- The Practice of Self-Responsibility
- The Practice of Self-Assertiveness
- The Practice of Living Purposefully
- The Practice of Personal Integrity
Through a programme in 6 locations, young people were to be supported to build skills and confidence and become the six pillars of their own positive self-esteem and healthy futures.
Results
Watch the Six Pillars film here.
- 196 individuals were supported
- 121 sessions delivered
- 1,231 participations.
Share This Post
What we did:
We brought young people together through a series of artistic taster sessions, where they could participate in a variety of creative activities and provide
their views on what they would like to be able to participate in the longer term. These taster sessions directly informed the Six Pillars content and gave young people ownership of their creative journey.
The chosen activities included an exciting mix of art forms, from virtual reality to puppetry, filmmaking to spray painting.
The work took part in several secondary schools, delivering creative after-school workshops. The on-site school delivery enabled schools to identify who would benefit from the Six Pillars offer and encourage their attendance.
Junction Arts also ran a schedule of summer holiday workshops in Bolsover, Clowne, Dronfield and Clay Cross.
For some Six Pillars was a place to develop their artistic abilities, it was also utilised by schools as a means to refer young people who lacked social connectedness. Whatever the initial reasoning for engagement, motivations grew throughout the programme, and though access to creative activities remained central, so too was the safe space, the staff support, and the friendships that developed.
The programme included opportunities for recognition, showcase, and celebration, through a variety of ways, including holding exhibits, creating online galleries, or ensuring attendance and inclusion within festivals.
The young people submitted artwork to the Chesterfield Postcard Show, allowing them to see their creations displayed in an exhibition. They made lanterns for the Bolsover Lantern Parade and walked in the light procession.
Six Pillars also created an Augmented Reality (AR) trail that was used as part of
Chesterfield Children’s Festival, utilising and sharing their talents in another way.
Recognising that not everyone can undertake visits external to school time, and schools can lack capacity for trips, Junction Arts created the ‘Six Pillars Online Gallery’; providing young people with a place to share their achievements and celebrate what they had done.
Embedded in the gallery are examples of the work produced, films about the project, and resources to use in their own time.
During the regular meet-up sessions, the Junction Arts team saw the positive impact of being creative; allowing young people to channel and process their feelings, reducing stress and boosting their self-esteem.
Unfortunately, not all young people have access to the necessary art supplies outside of the sessions to support their wellbeing or encourage their creative talents. So, the team fundraised to purchase and distribute 100 art packs to Six Pillars participants at the end of the project.
Results
- In total, 196 individuals were supported across the programme, 121 sessions were delivered with 1,231 participations.
- Emotional well-being is about how we think and how we feel. Having positive well-being means that we can recognise and manage our own thoughts, feelings and experiences, as well as those of others, in a positive way. Therefore, to capture how impactful different sessions were, young people gave anonymous feedback at the end of each session. 80% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with this statement. “Because of this session, I feel more able to recognise and manage my thoughts, feelings, and experiences positively.”
Testimonials from participants:
“6 Pillars helped me make friends.”
“The six pillars helped me calm down after a bad day.”
“I was already looking for a good art club for a while…but then I heard about the Six Pillars and they did spray painting and VR [virtual reality]. I became really excited so when I came and the main thing I wanted to do, we were doing it, it just instantly got me hooked.”
‘I feel proud of myself, I have tried something new for the first time.”
Teacher feedback
‘For someone like X who struggles socially, to be within a supportive group, he has experienced a lot of benefits that go beyond the session. To feel welcomed as part of the group is really nice for him’.
“The students who have attended the sessions have loved all the creative activities, trying new things, being in a small group, feeling included and able to express themselves creatively”
.‘It was a time when our students could just relax, and the Junction arts team checked in with them, to see how they felt and to chat about any problems. The sessions were managed well, and it was great that they could take place in school, and a member of school staff could support as well’
.
