Hello,

My name is Diane O’Neill, and i have a condition called Spondylilothesis and osteo arthiritis, which limits my abilities greatly. I am the founder of ‘Changing Creations’, an art group that I run in Podsmead, Gloucester. It has been set up for people with any ongoing or previous disabilities or illness, or just lacking socialisation. It has been proven to be very therapeutic.

I started the group on Sept 10th 2014 with 8 members and now have 30. The members continually tell me that this is their lifeline.

How the group came about

I was referred onto a programme called ARTLIFT by the pain clinic at Gloucester Royal Hospital.  Artlift is a free at the point of access, arts on prescription scheme designed to help people in Gloucestershire suffering from or at risk of developing poor health. It is funded by the NHS. I was taught various skills like drawing, water colour painting, acrylic painting, the use of pastels and charcoal, how to mix colours and so forth.  I attended a total of 24 weekly 2 hour sessions. When these sessions came to an end I was quite upset as it had changed my life drastically, I am not an artistic person at all and was sceptical about going, but I soon realised how therapeutic it was, also, it gave me a bit of a social life. 

This was when I decided that I wanted to set up a self-funding group to share my skills and knowledge with anyone in the community who would benefit from it.  In this group I want us all to continue to develop our skills by learning from each other and having continued opportunity to practice. 

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If we have enough funds, I would like to be able to send 2 people at a time onto courses to learn more skills that they can bring back to the group. 

These sessions take place every Wednesday morning from 10am until noon, and every Wednesday afternoon from 1 until 3pm at the Podsmead Community Association (Ramblers), Milton Avenue, Podsmead, Gloucester.  As we are a self-funding group so there is a small charge of £3.00 per week, to be paid on a 4 weekly basis up front. The first session is free. 

This cost includes all materials supplied, refreshments, a sketchbook, and hopefully the courses I mentioned earlier.

As a majority of the members are either disabled or suffering depression I want to be able to take them out on art inspiring trips (as many of them never go out). This involves the hire of minibuses and drivers, the fuel, entry costs into some places and outdoor equipment such as easels, fold up chairs etc.

We have been fundraising ourselves to raise money for 2 trips out this summer, and they all thoroughly enjoyed it and were so inspired that some amazing art work has been produced. Thus, also we would like to hold some exhibitions of our work to show the public what can be achieved no matter what your illness or disability is. Again, this costs money for framing, exhibition stands, venues, advertising and so on.

I know the group would be very grateful for any donations large or small to help this group to continue and flourish. A donation of £5 for example would buy 4 frames or 1 folding chair.