Engage Renfrewshire has awarded Outspoken Arts funding from the Scottish Government Community Health & Wellbeing Fund. The intended outcome of this Fund is to “develop a culture of mental wellbeing and prevention within local communities and across Scotland with improved awareness of how we can all stay well and help ourselves and others”. The overarching aim of the Fund is to support community based initiatives that promote and develop good mental health and wellbeing and/or mitigate and protect against the impact of distress and mental ill health within the adult population, with a particular focus in 2021/22 on:
- Tackling priority issues within the Transition and Recovery Plan such as suicide prevention, social isolation and loneliness, prevention and early intervention
- Addressing the mental health inequalities exacerbated by the pandemic and the needs of a range of ‘at risk’ groups locally
- Supporting small ‘grass roots’ community groups and organisations to deliver such activities
- Providing opportunities for people to connect with each other, build trusted relationships and revitalise communities
- Supporting recovery and creativity locally by building on what is already there, what was achieved through the pandemic, and by investing in creative solutions