Creative Health
Working with Cambridge Curiosity & Imagination to understand how an established arts-in-nature programme, Artscaping, could be an integral part of every child’s school experience to foster good health and wellbeing.
Listening & learning: There is an extensive and growing evidence base making the case for the importance of creative time, and time spent in nature for good mental health. Artscaping takes place outdoors, and encourages slowing down and allowing time for nature connectedness; it prioritises children’s creativity and thinking, with pro-active behaviours that are good for our health and our planet developed in parallel.
Amplifying & influencing: Aligned to our strategic priorities, we see Artscaping as a Creative Health intervention that has the potential to reduce mental health inequalities in the following ways:
Schools can offer universal access to creative activity that has the potential to reduce inequalities in both access to arts, culture and health outcomes
Schools can facilitate equity of access to nature, thereby playing a crucial role in addressing health inequities.
Working alongside Public Health, mental health partners and researchers from University College London and Anglia Ruskin University, we are developing a growing evidence-base for this approach to be an integral part of whole school approaches to mental health and wellbeing.
Read more about Fullscope’s involvement in Creative Health in Education
Read more from CCI about how to establish Artscaping in your school
CB4ward
Transforming the way VCSE work to support families experiencing vulnerabilities which lead to poor outcomes across a range of health determinants for children and adults.
Listening & learning: This 3 year project brings together local VCSE partners in a collaboration in the CB4 area in the north of Cambridge City, building on the years of experiences of the participating charities supporting families with multiple disadvantages. It connects voices from a number of organisations, including Fullscope board partners CPSL Mind and Blue Smile, and Fullscope Collaborative partners The Red Hen Project and Cambridge Acorn Project.
Amplifying & influencing: Funded by Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Public Health, the project aims to specifically develop and test a new and innovative model of VCSE working to improve outcomes.
“We want to create hope in the mental health system and a sense that good outcomes for children and young people at scale are possible and achievable.”
– Fullscope
Our Voices
Supporting the young person’s advisory group for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough's mental health and wellbeing system.
Listening & learning: The group provides an opportunity for local young people to get involved with the development of local services, and have their say about the mental health and wellbeing issues that matter to them. Their work is guided by a steering group of experts by experience.
Amplifying & influencing: Funded by Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Public Health and managed by Fullscope the activities of the young people are supported in partnership with Ormiston Families.
Find out more about current activities and opportunities: Our Voices
Follow Our Voices on Instagram
Our Voices: toolkit project
Co-creating a wellbeing toolkit to support the young people of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
Listening & learning: Young people who are involved in the Our Voices advisory group told us that they would like more resources and tools to enable them to safely support their peers with conversations around mental health. The project gathered a group of local young voices to offer insight into requirements and co-create a new online resource.
Amplifying & influencing: We know that young people turn to each other for help, and that young people would like more support to manage these conversations and the responsibility that comes with supporting their friends. Funded by Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Public Health and supported by Fullscope, the Help You, Help Them toolkit will be a valuable asset for local services.
Access the young people’s toolkit: Help You, Help Them
“We empower children, young people and their families to exercise agency and control over their lives and services.”
– Fullscope
Understanding Self-Harm in Children and Young People
Gaining deeper insight into the issues around self-harm for children and young people.
Listening & learning: With rates of self-harm across England extremely high and rising, we’ve been working with Public Health since 2021, commissioned by NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, to investigate further. During phase 1 (Aug 2021 - Jul 2022) we undertook desktop research and data analysis of the prevalence of self-harm in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Read more about the report, or read the full report.
Amplifying & influencing: During phase 2 (Aug 2022 - Jul 2023) we were involved in the co-creation of a film about about self-harm made with local young people with lived experience: ‘Ask Me How I Am’, and the piloting of ‘Understanding Self-Harm’ workshops for professionals. Read more about our co-production. During phase 3 (Sep 2023 - Mar 2024) we completed the wider roll out of the workshops, evaluating the film and its potential impacts and developed an online platform and resources.
Read our Phase 3 summary evaluation report and plans for 2024/25
If you’re interested in booking a workshop for your organisation, email info@fullscopecollaboration.org.uk
Thriving Partners
Discussing the implementation of the THRIVE model, how risk support across the mental health system in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is better achieved to prevent and alleviate children and young people’s (CYP) mental ill health.
Listening & learning: This multi-agency partnership was
established at the end of 2021 following the COVID outbreak, comprising system partners and commissioners from across the statutory and voluntary sectors in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. Thriving Partners meets quarterly and is committed to giving CYP a voice in the co-production of services and ensuring our professionals use a common and accessible language.
Amplifying & influencing: The project focuses on discussing the implementation of the THRIVE model, political repositioning of mental health to prevent, improving processes and identifying pathways.
View or download the THRIVE Self Assessment March 2024 document
View or download the Thriving Partners Case Discussion template
Read the full Thriving Partners Terms of Reference Sep 2024 document
“We challenge health inequalities and work to overcome them, taking an intersectional approach to understanding individual needs.”
– Fullscope
Past Projects
Branching Out
Investigating how elements of an established mental health art-in-nature programme could be scaled up to benefit children more widely.
Listening & learning: Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination (CCI), Cambridge Acorn Project (CAP) and research partners University of College London University College London (UCL) Institute of Education and Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) worked together for one year investigating Artscaping.
Amplifying & influencing: The project created resources and delivered training and mentoring to develop community Artscaper volunteers, increasing the capacity of schools to support children’s mental health.
Read more here on Amplifying Artscapers
The project contributed to a national research initiative seeking to understand how local cultural, natural and community assets can mitigate health inequality.
Read the full report: Artscaping with Community Artscapers
The project culminated in a celebration of Artscaping at Storey’s Field in April 2023, bringing together research partners, schools, project partners from Cambridge Acorn Project, artists and the wider community of support for CCI and Fullscope.
Read more on the celebration of Artscaping
VCSE Romsey Mill
Engaging young people living in supported housing to take part in creative and sporting activities to develop their emotional wellbeing.
Listening & learning: The project brought together voices from Romsey Mill, YMCA Trinity, CHS group, Arts and Minds and Young People’s Counselling Service to help improve the lives of 16-25 year olds living in supported housing, providing supported guidance to youth workers.
Amplifying & influencing: Activities were structured to create opportunities for informal conversations and the creative activities, such as songwriting and music production, were aimed at helping the young people to express the reality of their life situations and to access help. Funded via Centre 33 and the VCSE Health and Wellbeing Fund from the Department of Health and Social Care, with part funding from Cambridgeshire County Council/CCG/Peterborough City Council, and managed by Fullscope, the project culminated in an evaluation report led by YPCS.
Read the full report: Young people in supported housing: Meeting mental health needs differently
Kings Ripton Court project
Delivering regular mental health days at Kings Ripton Court
Listening & learning: Bringing together Cambridgeshire County Council’s Youth in Communities, the Salvation Army and Young People’s Counselling Service, the project looked at ways to improve mental health at the young people’s hostel and decrease reliance on crisis services.
Amplifying & influencing: Funded by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG and managed by Fullscope, the project set up weekly opportunities for a mental health practitioner, joined by KRC staff, county council youth and community staff and young people, to co-produce and deliver mental health-informed activities, including 1-to-1 sessions for young people, staff reflection meetings and positive activities with therapeutic intentions.
Read an evaluation of the project
Read the full report: Young people in supported housing: Meeting mental health needs differently
“We focus on innovation for system improvement with a creative, agile approach to change.”
– Fullscope
Creative Care
Developing partnerships and resources that encourage a creative way of being in the world to support our mental health and well-being.
Listening & learning: The project was developed in response to lockdown in April 2020 and led by Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination (CCI), in collaboration with local young people. Noah, from The Kite Trust, told us, “I wanted to get involved in this project as I find art to be incredibly therapeutic and hoped my contribution could help others explore their queerness through art. I’ve had lots of fun coming up with my offer and thinking about how nature supports us in our day-to-day life.”
Amplifying & influencing: Young people from The Kite Trust and Cambs Youth Panel worked with artists to co-create new resources: Out of the Box and Piece of Mind (supported by The Evelyn Trust).
Read a summary of Piece of Mind
The project worked closely with PHACE (Peterborough local cultural education partnership) to devise projects to support vulnerable families and to develop their new Creative Parenting course for educators, commissioned by and run in partnership with Peterborough City College. A unique ‘artput’ has also been created from this work, free for others to use and explore, which prompts discussions on the value of creative work in communities: An Invitation to be Together Differently.
Find out more about the artput and watch the film: An Invitation to be Together Differently
Find more resources by visiting Cambridge Curiosity and Imagination
GP Project
Giving GPs in two Primary Care Networks quick access to a single session therapeutic intervention for children and young people presenting with mild/moderate mental health or wellbeing issues.
Listening & learning: Running from June 2021 to June 2022, the pilot project covered 2 Primary Care Networks in Cambridge City of 6 surgeries and sought to provide a resource-efficient intervention with targeted further contact where appropriate.
Amplifying & influencing: Funded through the South Integrated Care Partnership’s Innovation Fund, evidence clearly showed that our pilot provided a simple but effective model of an alternative way to respond to mild-moderate need. It indicated that with small, resource-efficient input, there is a positive impact for both children, young people and their families – and professionals.
VCSE: Navigating mental health support as a LGBTQ+ young person
Improving the experiences of LGBTQ+ young people attempting to access mental health services in and around Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
Listening & learning: Led by The Kite Trust, the research sought to identify significant or recurring barriers to accessing mental health services, find solutions to remove, lessen or overcome these barriers, and improve young person’s (aged 16-25) experiences of accessing mental health services.
Amplifying & influencing: Funded by VCSE Health and Wellbeing Fund from the Department of Health and Social Care, with part funding from Cambridgeshire County Council/CCG/Peterborough City Council and managed by Fullscope, this was a targeted project with the LGBTQ+ community aimed at supporting learning for all young people in this age group.
Read The Kite Trust’s full report: LGBTQ+ Youth and Mental Health
“We work transparently, collaboratively and holistically focusing on long term outcomes.”
– Fullscope