An innovative creative health project to support wellbeing and improve career opportunities for young women in Calderdale.

The Bloom programme will support wellbeing and improve career opportunities for young women aged 18-25 in Calderdale. Delivered in partnership with Creative Minds and South West Yorkshire Partnership Foundation Trust, this training and mentorship programme will help participants to build a career in the cultural-health sector while supporting their wellbeing along the way.

What is Bloom?

Over the next three years, Bloom will offer six-month programmes to three women that are moving from children’s to adult’s social and health services in Calderdale.

The programme includes:

Professional development – a range of training, mentoring and work placement opportunities to help participants to move into careers in the cultural health sector.
Wellbeing support – help to build confidence and establish good self-care practices. Importantly, participants will also get paid the real-living-wage so they can focus on learning and self-care without financial pressure.
Connection and community – the Bloom Network will provide a space where women in the cultural health field can come together to share ideas, support each other, and connect with like-minded creatives. The Network will build a strong community so participants can keep growing, even after the programme ends.

In total, Bloom is expected to support over 300 women over the three years through the traineeship programme, Bloom Network and other engagement activities.

Why does Bloom matter?

Young women in Calderdale face significant mental health challenges, and Bloom is here to help make a real difference.

Statistics show that about 25% of young women aged 16-25 report symptoms of common mental disorders such as anxiety and depression and a growing number of girls and young women are being supported by Calderdale’s Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services.

Through Bloom, young women will receive hands-on experience in creative health careers while also developing the tools to maintain and manage their wellbeing throughout their personal and professional life.

How was Bloom developed?

The Bloom programme builds on our successful CreativeCare, Education Other Than At School and New Creatives programmes which were all developed to support people through creative activity.

Feedback from our New Creatives programme revealed some of the barriers that young women face in cultural careers while managing mental health issues.

A participant said:

“The New Creatives traineeship allows me to embrace my identity as an artist with a long-term health condition and depression. I often feel pressure to hide these aspects to conform to mainstream art. This traineeship lets me explore my artistic expression true to who I am.”

Delivered by an all-female team of artist-educators, mentors and counsellors, and informed by young women and their experiences, the Bloom programme seeks to remove some of these barriers and provide a safe and supportive environment for those taking part.

Who is involved?

Bloom will be delivered by Everybody Arts in partnership with Creative Minds and South West Yorkshire Partnership Foundation Trust (SWYPT).

Lauren Iredale, Director of Everybody Arts said: “We’re over the moon to receive this funding from The Pilgrim’s Trust to deliver such an important programme. We know that young women in Calderdale need more mental health support, and Bloom will provide that while also opening doors to exciting career opportunities in the cultural-health sector.”
David McQuillan from SWYPFT and Creative Minds highlighted how special this programme is: “The Bloom programme will offer trauma-informed support and training in a safe, all-female environment. It’s a chance for young women to develop their skills while receiving the support they need. The Bloom Network will make sure that support continues long after they’ve completed the programme.”

Funding for Bloom has been provided by the Pilgrim’s Trust.

Sonja Forbes, Grants Manager at the Pilgrim Trust, shared her thoughts: “We are delighted to award funding to this innovative, female-led project through our Young Women in Mind fund. The combination of mentoring and counselling support alongside the training programme will help three young women improve their mental health while developing their careers in creative therapeutic interventions. The legacy of this project will be increased capacity for health services to deliver more support to young women facing acute mental ill health, by young women who really understand their experiences.”