• Registered users login
• Contact us
• Cymraeg
• Enter Search

MK Arts for Heath is a registered charity arts organisation based at Milton Keynes Hospital which aims to enhance health and healing and build strong communities through creative activities. They had already run a successful HLF funded project in which various community groups used the locations depicted in the heritage watercolour collection on loan from Buckinghamshire County Museum, and exhibited in the hospital, to explore their own heritage.

This project brought a new exhibition, entitled Out of Clay, to the hospital consisting of Roman and Medieval pottery and 20thCentury British studio ceramics. The older pottery was found in excavations during the building of Milton Keynes in the 1960s and 70s, and the studio ceramics were made by artists living in the area in the 1980s.

The pottery is on loan from Buckinghamshire County Museum, with whom MK Arts had built a relationship during the previous project. A series of outreach activities included ceramic workshops with schools, music workshops with young musicians, reminiscence with patient groups, and animation with young people. Activities were based on the exhibition and helped to bring the collection to a wider audience and bring the history of the objects to life.

• To exhibit local archaeological pottery in the hospital, on display for the first time to participants in the project and the general public using the hospital.
• To run a series of ceramics, music and reminiscence workshops based on the Out of Clay exhibition.
• To engage with new audiences from an area of high deprivation and from amongst the hospital users through the use of workshops.
• To benefit the health and well-being of the participants.

• The collection of objects found during the construction of Milton Keynes has been displayed for the first time in Milton Keynes.
• The exhibition in the local hospital was seen by hundreds of people each month and on Heritage Open Days.
• A series of outreach workshops and events were held to attract new audiences to local heritage.

• Participants and audiences for outreach activities learned about the history of the Milton Keynes area.
• Participants learned new skills and techniques in pottery, music composition and performance and animation. They included young people and adults who benefited from improved self-confidence and self-esteem through the team-working and social nature of the activities.
• Hospital users benefited from improved health and well-being through a more relaxed and uplifting hospital environment.
• The project helped to build the skills and capacity of MK Arts for Health staff and to attract volunteers to work with the organisation.

• It is important to make sure that the workshop activity is not only appealing but easy to explain clearly in both promotional material and verbally at the workshops.
• There is a need to encourage participants to maintain contact so that stronger, longer lasting links with communities are sustained and long-term benefits of heritage projects can be evaluated.
• A range of activities is important to attract diverse audiences.
• There should be intermediate celebratory events to bring together the diverse outreach activities and participants as this contributes to community cohesion and helps people to understand their role in the wider project.

• The Out of Clay project has established MK Arts for Health and the hospital as a high-quality heritage venue, contributing the local Council’s commitment to culture.
• Heritage offers a unique way for people to participate in activities that improve well-being and help vulnerable people at risk from mental illness gain self-esteem and build work and life skills.
• Heritage Lottery funding has been secured for a further exhibition to continue the momentum of the first two projects,

• Vacancies
• Accessibility
• Terms and conditions

• Copyright © [] Heritage Lottery Fund