Who’s involved
Brought to you by:
This project is delivered by Bath Mind and The Dept. of Kindness, with support from the Co-op #iwill fund and The Soul Spa.
Funders
The #iwill Fund is a £50 million joint investment from the National Lottery Community Fund and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to support young people to access high quality social action opportunities.
The #iwill Fund brings together a group of organisations who all contribute funding to embed meaningful social action into the lives of young people. Social action involves activities such as campaigning, fundraising and volunteering, all of which enable young people to make a positive difference in their communities as well as develop their own skills and knowledge. The collaborative approach ensures that young people have a say in where the money goes.
Co-op’s charity, the Co-op Foundation, is a #iwill Fund match-funder and delivered funding for our project. Jamie Ward-Smith, Chair of the Co-op Foundation, says:
“Our partnership with the #iwill Fund has shown the positive impact young people can have when they have the power to take action on issues they care about. Life transitions, like moving schools, can be a lonely and unsettling time for young people. Grants announced today will allow young people to improve their wellbeing as they move schools, while offering an opportunity to take action to help others.”
Creative Collaborators
Ailsa Eaglestone
Ailsa led the Room 627 project while she was Special Projects Manager at Bath Mind, and has since played a key role in our takeover of the Egg Theatre in October 2022. She loves collecting sea glass on the beach, reading widely and playing any sort of team sports.
Ailsa has always been passionate about how the arts can provide exceptional, inspiring and wonderful experiences, and feels strongly that this should be available to everyone. Her son just started big school in 2020 and so this project has special relevance to her. She loves working with creatives and artists and finding the joy when collaborations take place, creating new and intriguing possibilities.
Ali Brown
Ali is an artist, connector and creative permission giver, and she runs creative wellbeing projects and workshops in the UK.
She is also the founder of The Dept. of Kindness.
Ali uses creativity as a tool for wellbeing; a tool to support you to know, like, and trust yourself. She is one of our workshop facilitators and all-round ideas guru.
You can find out more about Ali at alibrown.me
Ali Brown
Ali is an artist, connector and creative permission giver, and she runs creative wellbeing projects and workshops in the UK.
She is also the founder of The Dept. of Kindness.
Ali uses creativity as a tool for wellbeing; a tool to support you to know, like, and trust yourself. She is one of our workshop facilitators and all-round ideas guru.
You can find out more about Ali at alibrown.me
Oldfield School
Bath Mind and the Dept. of Kindness are working with an amazing group of Wellbeing Ambassadors at Oldfield School in Bath. This creative cohort of young people are helping co-design the project from the very start.
Abby Davies
I’m Abby Davies and am Head of Year 7 at Oldfield School. I have only recently started in this role and am passionate about making the transition from primary to secondary school as fun and stress free as possible. I teach geography and love all things to do with nature!
In my spare time I enjoy riding and competing my horse, walking in the countryside and having a go at baking. I’m very proud of the group of students who are pioneering this programme and know that they will be comforting to any Year 6 students who are wondering what it’s like to start at Oldfield School.
Abby Davies
I’m Abby Davies and am Head of Year 7 at Oldfield School. I have only recently started in this role and am passionate about making the transition from primary to secondary school as fun and stress free as possible. I teach geography and love all things to do with nature!
In my spare time I enjoy riding and competing my horse, walking in the countryside and having a go at baking. I’m very proud of the group of students who are pioneering this programme and know that they will be comforting to any Year 6 students who are wondering what it’s like to start at Oldfield School.
Madeline Blackburn
Wonderful Madeline Blackburn, from the Soul Spa, presents guided meditations for the project.
The Soul Spa runs several classes every day to help you to mentally relax. The teachers run sessions of different styles of meditation, usually around 20 minutes each, all with the intention of helping you to become mentally fit and strong. All classes are suitable for beginners. They run regular groups and workshops centred around mental health and wellbeing.
To find out more, please visit www.thesoulspa.co.uk
Rhiannon Adler
Rhiannon runs her own business as a web designer, mentor and creative practitioner. She is also co-director at The Dept. of Kindness – kindness and compassion is a big part of all the work she does.
Rhiannon designs and manages the website for Room 627 in collaboration with the Oldfield school creative cohort, and generally keeps things tickety-boo online. She also provides creative consultations for the project, and has been supporting some of our creative workshops with young people.
You can find out more about Rhiannon at rhiannonadler.co.uk
Rhiannon Adler
Rhiannon runs her own business as a web designer, mentor and creative practitioner. She is also co-director at The Dept. of Kindness – kindness and compassion is a big part of all the work she does.
Rhiannon designs and manages the website for Room 627 in collaboration with the Oldfield school creative cohort, and generally keeps things tickety-boo online. She also provides creative consultations for the project, and has been supporting some of our creative workshops with young people.
You can find out more about Rhiannon at rhiannonadler.co.uk
Rachel Merelie Davis
Rachel is a multidisciplinary artist working in educational, healthcare and community settings. She is passionate about using the creative arts to explore the world around us, make connections and to support and nourish our wellbeing.
Rachel is one of our workshop facilitators, and drew many of the fabulous illustrations you can find dotted around this website.
The Positive Planners
The Positive Planners promote daily positivity and self-care through planners, journals, artwork and workshops. They help people build a toolbox to bring joy and gratitude into the every day.
They have donated some of their fabulous mental health resources to the project.
You can find out more about them at thepositiveplanners.com
The Positive Planners
The Positive Planners promote daily positivity and self-care through planners, journals, artwork and workshops. They help people build a toolbox to bring joy and gratitude into the every day.
They have donated some of their fabulous mental health resources to the project.
You can find out more about them at thepositiveplanners.com
Sally Collister
Sally is a photographer and workshop facilitator. As well as photographing for charities and not-for-profits, she also delivers community workshops and participatory projects that encourage wellbeing through photography. She is never happier than when exploring the great outdoors, camera in hand, or meeting new people to document their exciting projects (like this one!)
You can find out more about Sally at sallycollister.co.uk
Other Contributors:
Edwina Bridgeman – artist
Kerry Russell – artist
Jeanette Sims – Bath Mind
Sophie Jacobs-Wyburn – Theatre Royal Bath
All volunteers who supported us at The Egg takeover
Huge thanks to everyone who has contributed so far to this project!