Riverside Gallery
Friday 29 June – Sunday Monday 6 August
Daily 12 – 9pm

Private View, Wednesday 4 July 6.30 – 8.30pm

An enchanted fantasy inspired by the 1956 film ‘The Red Balloon’.

The project focused around a 20-week programme of film-making, still photography and post production workshops for people with mental health issues. The workshops covered the complete range of skills needed to create, record, edit and deliver a finished film.

The workshop programme was led by Ben Clough from Chocolate Films, who has this to say:

“What has pleased me most about this project is the way in which participants have worked together. Contrary to what might be assumed, the group were very quick to establish a supportive atmosphere in which to develop their ideas and what followed was the kind of collective work ethic that is very unusual in my experience. I hope that what participants take away from this project is the value of their own contributions. The film is beautiful precisely because everybody put in the time and effort. There is still a huge amount of stigma attached to words like depression and anxiety but what this project has taught me is that people who have experienced mental health problems can be some of the most considerate, creative and hard-working colleagues you could ever wish to have. For me it has been a privilege to be part of the process”.

Evaluation: Watermans recognised the importance of understanding the benefits of this programme and commissioned external, independent evaluation to deliver this.  All programme participants are taking part in evaluating how the programme has benefitted them.  Participants complete two nationally recognised questionnaires at the start and end of the programme and again in six months and twelve months after the programme end. These questionnaires measure changes in well-being over time.

The completed film can be seen here:

Alongside questionnaire completion participants are interviewed at the beginning, end, six and twelve months after programme end to look at skill development and associated life changes. The extended period of the evaluation is designed to look both at the immediate impact of the programme as well as benefits gained or sustained for a year after the programme.

There have been a number of group discussions about the programme benefits and these have included questions which the participants themselves thought should be asked as part of the evaluation.  Whilst evaluation is very much work in progress changes in the group have been noted and participants have reported  “feeling richer for the experience with more self-esteem and motivation”

Kirstie McLachlan Consultancy & Coaching

HEALium was conceived by Watermans, created and curated by Chocolate Films, and funded by West London Mental Health Trust