Orb’s door is now open wider to people with learning disabilities.
‘The arts are and should be firmly recognised as being integral to health, health care provision and healthcare environments.’
Dept of Health, 2007
Did you know that Orb Enterprise is now an Approved Provider for North Yorkshire County Council’s Health and Adult Services?
This means that people with personalised budgets can now use them to join us at Orb.
Why is this important?
Well, the link between the arts and mental well-being has long been known (and celebrated at Orb!)
It’s now widely recognised that people with learning disabilities also gain so much enhancement in their daily living from getting involved in creative arts.
And the good news is that, thanks to our new status as an Approved Provider, we can now offer Orb’s fantastic range of art, music and IT support to more people with learning disabilities.
Just remind yourself of all that Orb has to offer:
Does music move you?
At the heart of Orb, Studio Space offers a rehearsal room and state of the art recording studio.
This is where where our members can express the music that lies within them, with the support of our friendly and talented team.
Take Liam, who has a learning disability.
He’s been coming in for a couple of weeks now and learning how to record the songs he loves with help from Josh, our Studio Manager.
Josh at the mixing desk .
‘I really enjoy working with Liam,’ says Josh. ‘He enjoys it immensely. He knows all the lyrics to the songs he loves – Westlife are a particular favourite. I’m encouraging him to write his own songs, and he’s keen to learn how to use the software.’
Music touches so many aspects of our learning: imagination, intellect, senses, emotions.
At Orb we value all of these, and blend them with practical and technical backup.
We build confidence by working with people’s individual interests and aspirations – and then, using their talents to take part in one of Orb’s many musical events can give such a boost to confidence and social inclusion.
Visual arts are also at the centre of Orb’s passionate commitment to creative expression. With a dedicated Art Space, full range of materials and the sensitive and inspiring support of the Orb team, everyone can explore their inner visions.
Don’t take our word for it – take a look at our gallery!
From the Orb gallery
And right now, Orb is looking at ways of linking up with other organisations supporting people with learning disabilities.
Talk to Leon about arranging specially targeted art classes with art tutor Sharon Carrick
Whether you want help setting up a blog, using a digital camera or just getting on line, you’ll find helpful and friendly support in the Orbit computer suite.
And don’t forget to take a Springtime look at the garden . . .
Putting the work in at the Orb garden.
. . . and see how quickly it’s being transformed. As Mick, our Orb gardener says: ‘It simply raises your heart!’ –
Working in the natural world (or even just sitting and admiring) works wonders for our general well being in body mind and spirit .
There’s so much in such a small space!
We are delighted here at Orb, that we can now extend our passionate commitment to creativity to support more people through their personalised budgets.
Sowing the seeds of mental wellbeing
Ignore the cold and the wet – Spring really has Sprung. Even as we shiver, we are surrounded with fresh green growth and dazzled with yellow and white, orange and blue wherever we look.
it simply raises your heart
Time, then, to take a fresh look at the Orb garden, and think again about the impact that the natural world can have on our mental well being.
‘It started with a packet of seeds.’
Mick Robinson is talking about the difference Orb Community Enterprise has made to his life.
Mick used to run a computer department. It was a high pressure job and, as with so many jobs, the pressure kept growing.
‘I had a breakdown and I attempted suicide. After leaving hospital I was out walking one day when, on impulse, I decided to buy a packet of seeds. To my surprise they grew – so I got some more. After a while I was encouraged to take a gardening course. My love of plants grew but I wasn’t sure where it could take me. Then I was introduced to Orb.’
At first sight, even to those of us who love it, Orb – a concrete-ex-garage-at-the-end-of-the-alley-past-the-theatre – belies its nature as a hotbed of creativity. So let’s just remind ourselves that this Tardis-like space manages to encapsulate an art studio, recording studio, rehearsal room, IT suite (oh – and an amazing garden, thanks largely to Mick and his team of volunteers.)
Let’s also remind ourselves that mental ill-health does great damage to our society. 5% of people in the Harrogate District accessed NHS mental health services during 2008/9. 40% of those claiming disability benefits in the same area were doing so because of mental ill-health. So, statistically, everyone of us reading this will be affected, either directly or indirectly.
But the focus has to be on individuals, like Mick.
Joining Orb as a service user, Mick became a volunteer, then went on to paid work as a gardener, turning a patch of waste ground at Orb into a flourishing haven of positive energy which, as he says, ‘simply raises your heart’.
‘I still struggle with difficult days from time to time. But I have no doubt that it’s Orb’s bright supportive atmosphere, and the difference my work is making to the garden that keeps me out of hospital.’
Working with the natural environment, opening our hearts to natural, organic growth has such a powerful effect on everyone’s mental (and physical) wellbeing. If you want measurable evidence of this, take a look at the Ecominds website.
Or better still, next time you’re down at Orb’s end-of the-alley, take a look at our own garden. With a mental image of how things used to look . . .
In the beginning . . .
‘raise your heart’ with the transformation of new growth and colour that now surrounds you, thanks to Mick and his team.
And maybe come back next time with a pair of wellies and a spade!
Spring springing
An extremely civilised patio!
Putting the work in!
Mick the Gardener
Our community’s getting stronger, thanks to the Future Jobs Fund and NYLC
It’s not just fantastic new facilities that make Orb unique, it’s the people in our community. And that community is getting stronger with some new additions to the Orb team. You’ve already met Josh our studio manager, well there’s Julian (also in the recording studio) and now handyman Andy.
We’ve been able to open doors for them through the Future Jobs Fund delivered in conjunction with the North Yorkshire Learning Consortium and the DWP. The Future Jobs Fund is helping us with our commitment to help young, potentially vulnerable people in our community and get them into employment. So we created three six-month long jobs in the last year that not only share new opportunities and experience, they put something back into Orb’s creative and supportive environment.
We’d like you to meet Andy
“Gardening? I thought I’d never get into that!”
Andy: our new handyman
Exclaims Andy who moved up to Knaresborough in North Yorkshire from Bournemouth on the hunt for new opportunities. He’s been at Orb for only two weeks now, but helping Mick with our Ecominds garden project is already changing his opinion of what he’d like to do for a living. He’s also putting his skills in carpentry to good use in Orb’s ArtSpace, building a booth for the drum kit.
“While I’m still young I want to get into something good. I’m more of a practical type man.”
In the past, Andy has worked as a labourer on building sites and on occasion got his fingers green doing some turfing. But he found himself at odds with other employers who didn’t show the trust and responsibility that’s needed to bring out the best in people:
“In other jobs I didn’t like the pressure… being watched all the time. It’s nice working in a friendly place for once.”
Thanks to the Future Jobs Fund and Orb’s creative supportive environment it’s brought about a change. He finds he works happily, quicker and harder without supervision and under his own initiative:
“It sounds weird but if you don’t rush you do the job better. The best thing about Orb … they tell me what they want and let me get on with it.”
Andy is only at the beginning of his six month contract, but there are already seeds of a longer-term plan to build up experience of gardening, then perhaps go back to college to study:
“Anyone can have a certificate. A lot of jobs … they want experience not just qualifications.”
That’s just what Orb is able to offer our younger team members: experience, trust and support in an unpressurised and creative environment.
Everyone wins
With the help of the Future Jobs Fund and North Yorkshire Learning Consortium we can offer employment that is mutually beneficial. It gives people like Andy, Josh and Julian experience, but also adds value to Orb: by improving our facilities, supporting other members making music in the recording studio and building our Ecominds garden project.
Meanwhile, it sounds like Andy has the right amount of energy and excitement to take him through to Summer next year:
“I’m getting into gardening… I’m looking forward to building the greenhouse and the pond, for some strange reason I enjoy it!”
This blog article was written by Chris Kenworthy: copywriter and photographer
Extreme Metal Mike
Mike with his Ibanez
It’s easy to spot when you’re in the company of a dedicated guitarist: they simply can’t put their axe down and Mike is no exception. Even while we’re having a relaxed chat about his new album ‘Captured In Eternity’s Eye’ Mike is shredding, his fingers deftly hopping between frets on his bright red Ibanez guitar while he answers my questions.
Mike has been playing guitar since he was fourteen, perfecting his talent on a staple diet of metal stalwarts like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. He then “delved into the more extreme” and discovered Norwegian Black Metal which turned his attention to bands like Mayhem, Emperor and Burzum.
Mike originally helped out by painting the walls of Orb’s new music recording studio. He made his first EP ‘The Un-Creation’ as a self-funded project a while back but after being referred to Orb a few months ago he now has free access the latest tools and techniques which will help him lay down tracks under the pseudonym ‘Written In Torment’ in the very same room he painted.
“… it’s a good atmosphere here … [I'm] able to play my guitar out of my amp properly … loud! And pretty much everyone here is really into what they’re doing”
Mike works with resident recording engineer Josh who helps him with bass lines and getting to know all the electronic trickery Orb have in their new recording studio. During the recording Mike has picked up skills in syncing with the mixing desk and an understanding of Cubase software.
“Give it a go. There’s a lot of services for everyone who’s into music … stuff for DJs … there’s something for everyone”
Like all of Orb’s facilities, they promote positive mental health and provide a productive outlet for service users, but being immersed in a metal haven hasn’t given Mike any delusions of grandeur:
“I’m going to send [the tracks] to a few underground labels, but it’s mostly for my own enjoyment. I’m not in it for money. It won’t be mainstream, I’m a realist. It’s not going to be something you can gold plate a bar with”
Mike: shredding
Mike has aspirations of being a guitar teacher and is learning a few more skills to help him do this. He’d also like to play a few festivals for “beer and a free holiday” at events like Wacken Open Air in Germany, Inferno in Norway and Bloodstock right here in the UK.
Do you want to use Orb’s recording studio for free?
Based in Knaresborough and serving the borough of Harrogate and beyond, we’ve got a wealth of equipment, knowledge and support for vulnerable people here at Orb. You can contact us through our website to find out how to apply for access to our services.
We’re always on the look out for new partnerships with like-minded organisations too. If you want to help us build stronger communities then contact us about using Orb’s unique music and art services.
This blog article was written by Chris Kenworthy: copywriter and photographer
Stevie’s Drum Clinic
Stevie in his natural habitat
When Stevie David isn’t volunteering for Orb, being a support worker for United Response or studying Mental Health at Leeds Met University, he’s a drummer. And he’s passionate about all things drum especially through his ‘EcoX music project.’
“I wanted to promote the drumming side and get Orb out there in the community … get [them] known for drumming and music not just for sound and lighting”
That was Stevie’s vision for the ‘drum clinic’ he set up back in February of 2010, an extremely successful event which took five months to plan and meant he had to organise promotion, book a venue, print flyers, stage plan, sound check and work cooperatively with other members of the Orb community: something that Orb is passionate about.
Stevie’s experience taking part in drum clinics elsewhere meant he could draft in support from professional drummers Bobby Arechiga and Martin Ranscombe as well as drum maker Dave Nuttall. In Stevie’s words: “ [these] two sides of drumming: rock and session as well as someone who builds them for a living” gave the thirty people who attended the workshop different perspectives on the art of drumming:
“So it wasn’t just: OK here’s a guy playing – great, but how do they make them … we twisted it round to ‘how are they built?’”
During the workshop, people were shown drumming techniques, involved in audience participation, given tips on coordination and played along with backing tracks. Also in attendance were Orb band ‘Brew-ha-ha’ and local drumming talent Sam Hallet. The event was open to the public as well as Orb service users, drummers, guitarists and other musicians alike.
Bobby Arechiga, guest at the drum clinic
Not only was the drum clinic a roaring success, it fitted perfectly with what Orb sets out to achieve:
- offering activities to the community that promote positive mental health and well-being
- increase confidence through team work and learning new skills
- sharing talent between professional musicians and people with mental health support needs
- creating an environment where everybody’s talents are valued and encouraged including those most vulnerable to exclusion
Do you want to take part in the next drum clinic at Orb?
Stevie as well as previous attendees are all for it, but the endless list of activities and time needed to set up the event means Orb need help and sponsorship to get it up and running.
If you want to get involved or your organisation would like to sponsor another drum clinic then we’d love to hear from you: either tell us about yourself in the comments below or contact us through our web site.
This blog article was written by Chris Kenworthy: copywriter and photographer
Supported by
