A pat on the back from the Knaresborough community

We’re proud to announce we’ve been recognised by two of our local supporters. First up is Knaresborough Lions Club (part of Lions Club International voluntary organisation) who gifted us a kind donation. Here’s Mark with Lion’s Club president Alan Gilbert:

Enjoying some glorious weather in our EcoMinds garden:

Secondly, we’re pleased to say we’ve been chosen as a mayoral charity for another year by Knaresborough’s new mayor Andrew Willoughby. We were one of mayor Bill Hoult’s chosen charities last year.

Thanks to our supporters for recognising the hard work everyone puts in here at Orb. Recognition and donations help us to continue supporting vulnerable members of our community.

Introducing Mr Orb Head

There’s been some odd happenings here at Orb HQ recently. Nothing to be worried about. But it seems we’ve had a friendly visitor after we’ve all gone home.

Only last week we arrived one morning to find a set of dusty footprints leading from the basement trap door into our computer suite. And one of the computers was logged into Twitter with a few web pages still open.

And the twitter username? Mr Orb Head.

An old friend

We think Mr Orb Head’s emerged from his winter hibernation, probably reawakened by Denise’s drumming or the sound of music playing in our recording studio. And by the look of his Internet history, he’s been very busy.

He seems interested in all things mental health and enjoys digging around on the web for news on the subject. He’s also been on YouTube looking for video and music with a mental health theme and finding out about mental health events all over the world. Then he shares what he finds with new friends he’s made along the way.

We last saw Mr Orb Head when we moved into our new premises. That’s when he posed for one of the few photos we have of him. After that he disappeared again. He’s a shy and private character but friendship and a creative environment bring out the best in him, like our members.

Say hello

You can follow Mr Orb Head on Twitter where he seems to hang out most. But his tweets will also appear on our Facebook fan page.

In the meantime keep your eyes peeled for more signs left behind by our nightly visitor.

This blog article was written by Chris Kenworthy: copywriter and photographer

Orb Ecominds garden update #2

Despite a tough winter of bitterly cold temperatures and frozen pipes our Ecominds garden is sprouting bravely through the frost. Thanks to Orb volunteers and funders we’ve now got:

• Two raised beds for growing vegetables
• A line of gabions to grow hanging fruits like strawberries
• Foundations for a patio at the back for our members to relax
• Gates and fencing to protect the garden

A few new faces

First there’s Micky and Stuart. Both volunteers and skilled carpenters, they’re building a secure fence to protect our Ecominds garden from intruders. Unfortunately we’ve had a bit of bother from mindless vandalism but hopefully that’ll stop once their handiwork is complete. Micky and Stuart are out of work at the moment, but they’re using their free time to volunteer and keep their skills sharp. Both chippies think our Ecominds garden is a chance to give something back to their community.

You’ll also spot Diane in the photos, another volunteer helping Mick prepare our raised beds ready for planting vegetables in the spring. When she’s not doing a bit of therapeutic digging in the garden she also comes to our free computer classes.

Get involved with the Orb garden project

You don’t even have to be a gardener. We need volunteers to help to create another safe, social and productive environment for our members to be creative and a place our local community can enjoy. You should contact us, leave a comment below or post a message on our Facebook wall to get involved.

This blog article was written by Chris Kenworthy: copywriter and photographer

It’s good to talk

We aren’t a political organisation here at Orb. Our only agenda is to support vulnerable people. But recently we’ve started to feel more than a little vulnerable ourselves. So we’re compelled to speak out about how tough things are getting for us here in the voluntary sector.

There’s been a steady erosion of mental health support services here in Harrogate over the last few years. Erosion that’s so gradual it seems like no one person or organisation is to blame. Of the two statutory mental health day care centres here in our own community one has closed and the other is due for closure. And changes to care programmes mean there are less staff to coordinate services.

All this is happening at a time when more pressure is being placed on individuals with severe and enduring mental health problems to come off benefits and get back into employment. And it’s fallen on voluntary services like Orb to plug the gap left behind, to give vulnerable people safe and supportive places to visit when they need help.

To put it simply, there’s too much strain on the few mental health support services left behind. But here’s the catch: for all that extra strain and expectation, there’s no readily accessible funding from local authorities to support us.

In it alone

Let’s take a step back for a moment and look at why mental health day services are so important from a user’s perspective. Mick our gardener has first-hand experience:

It helped me enormously. You knew you weren’t in it alone. You get out of the house. Just to see people. They’d know when you want leaving alone or to chat. You’d get a level of care from other service users. Everyone around you was always aware of how other people felt.

But compare that with his more recent experiences of mental health support services which favour one-to-one home visits:

Now you get an hour a week if you’re lucky. If you’re depressed that’s no good. It doesn’t work like that. The bad times are always at night.

Mick went to the now extinct Hawthorn day unit. Open during the day, vulnerable people could visit when they needed help and mix with other people who had similar problems.

Getting out, socialising, meeting other people – that’s what helps. You need some sort of place where you can go, drop-in, with other people. And it needs to be backed up with mental health support staff.

The one that got away

Mick feels positive about the benefits of these now dwindling mental health day services. With a supportive net of clinicians and mental health specialists, they help catch people before they fall.

But that’s the ideal. And one we’re getting further away from. When you take away that net, people slip through.

And with looming government budget cuts things are only set to get worse. Nevertheless, when day care services like the Hawthorn Centre drop the ball, voluntary organisations like Orb are expected to pick it up. As our founder Mark puts it:

The voluntary sector is expected to provide more but is paid less. Or nothing at all.

To fill the funding gap, here at Orb we spend significant amounts of our time filling in applications and submitting bids for charitable grants. Grants we might never even be awarded despite all our best efforts. That’s time-consuming. Time that could be better spent supporting our members and making our service even better.

Tough times

We know we’re not alone. Everyone’s set to have a hard time over the next few years. But with our funding already squeezed for 2010 and reduced for 2011 (or even pulled) it’s looking bleak. Plus we already support 20% more vulnerable people than we’re currently funded to.

Sure, you could ask why don’t you just support less people? Well, if we cast aside our principles and go against everything Orb stands for, we could. In Mark’s words:

If people are motivated enough to turn up at Orb and ask for our help, we can’t turn them away. They want to use our facilities and we want to support them.

But the reality is Orb can’t fully replace traditional mental health day care services, like those Mick experienced. Services with a safety net of clinicians and mental health specialists on-site, ready to step in. It seems that model of care is no longer in fashion and has almost disappeared. We need a new one or a compromise at the very least.

Hands up

We don’t have the solution. We just know that things aren’t working the way they are right now. They need to improve. Here’s what we’re thinking:

1. We’d like our opinions and experience taken into account. Decision makers aren’t talking to voluntary sector organisations like Orb enough. But we’re bearing the brunt of the cuts. We need local authorities to talk to us more.
2. We need to be involved in vulnerable people’s care plans. See the bigger picture. So we can help use what little money there is more efficiently. Again, we could share that knowledge simply through talking.
3. Most importantly. However care is offered, vulnerable people need social and community support to get better. Understanding, compassionate and like-minded people around them. With the cushion of mental health support specialists that was once found at day care centres. Somewhere they can talk.

On that third point – perhaps there could be some sort of compromise? Between social and community organisations like Orb but with mental health support specialists who are seconded or visit more frequently.

The solution lies in talking

To help fix this we need discussion. A place where decision makers from local authorities and voluntary sector organisations and vulnerable people come together. To talk. Together we can decide how best to sort this problem out. Because we’re all in this together.

Mick put it best in his thoughtful reflections:

What you really need is to be interacting with other people. Talking. It makes things better.

Whichever piece of the mental health support service jigsaw you are, the solution for this problem is to talk. But right now, it just isn’t happening.

This blog article was written by Chris Kenworthy: copywriter and photographer

Paul: licensed to drill

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” said Confucius, looking at our newly sound-proofed and painted fire doors.

These subtle changes are all part of a big plan to improve and expand Orb HQ in Knaresborough. And friend of Orb Paul has started to make it happen.

Paul’s a qualified joiner between jobs at the moment. Not one to leave his tools idle, he’s helpfully volunteered his skills to the Orb community. Using his experience in site management and maintenance expertise, he’s hanging doors, adding fire strips and installing door closers. That means better access for everyone who comes to use Orb’s art space, recording studio and computer suite. Plus we’re all up to date with our health and safety commitments.

Paul started as a volunteer late last year and soon picked up on what makes Orb so special:

“I got a good feeling about the place … it’s a comfortable place to be. There’s a nice atmosphere, it’s calm.”

And that atmosphere can only get calmer, now we’ve got extra sound proofing in place to control noise from the music studio. Paul’s been getting help from Andy too: planing, fitting hinges and painting doors. That’s all in the spirit of the Orb ethos: sharing knowledge and passing on skills.

Next on the list are a few improvements to the art space. We’ll be getting a fitted sink, extra storage and some shelving for art materials. Not long after are plans for a fully accessible toilet. There’s also talk of a glass front for Orb and converting our unused basement into a whole new space.

Our journey

What used to be a cold shell of a garage is now a warm, friendly, supportive and creative place to be. And with help from people like Paul, volunteers and funders, we’re taking something full of potential and turning it into a productive and much loved part of the community. Like how we help our members who make small steps through our doors each and every day.

This blog article was written by Chris Kenworthy: copywriter and photographer

The Orb of Wonderment

Stevie’s thumping away at his new drum kit. And Josh is recording some music in the studio that sounds pretty loud. So we’ve moved to the quiet sanctuary of Orb’s art space. We say quiet but as soon as we start talking a carpenter starts hammering in a few finishing touches to the new fire doors. There’s always something going on at Orb.

Today we’re going to have a chat with Mark. And shed some light on how Orb got its name. That’s a pun in case you miss it. Don’t worry it’ll all make sense soon.

Back in the carefree days of Mark’s hedonistic past, he earned a crust as lighting engineer with a local band in Exeter called Sahara. Legend has it that during a gig Sahara found a discarded disco mirror ball hidden away, cowering beneath a stage. They took pity on it and decided to give it a new home, touring with them as part of the act.

It didn’t take long for the mirror ball to prove its worth, as a quirky but creative tool for reflecting and shining light about during gigs. But a life on the road soon took its toll and poor little mirror ball lost some of its lustre while rolling about untethered in the back of a van. Fragments of mirror broke off and soon dents and other imperfections became part of its character.

But it was during a conversation between two friends that the real character of the mirror ball was recognised:

“You can’t call that a mirror ball … It’s the orb of wonderment.”

Said the late Gwyn Jones, respected local musician, colleague and friend of Mark. Looking at the first part of that sentence, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Gwyn was referring to the damaged state of the mirror ball. In fact it was an important insight into how it stood for much more.

Fast-forward a few years and Mark was looking for a name for his new venture. He’d had an idea for a support service helping vulnerable individuals with severe or enduring mental health problems. It would be creative, encompass both art and music and bring out the best in people at risk of being cast aside or neglected by society. People who might be a little dented, bruised and affected by their experiences.

Sound familiar?

It did to Mark. The orb of wonderment was about to have its finest hour and give its name to a very special mental health support service. Mark had spotted a powerful metaphor in the orb: from something that may seem a little damaged, given a chance to shine it’ll dazzle, inspire wonder and show just how unique and special it is. It’s multifaceted too, like everything we do at Orb with our music recording studio, art space and computer suite.

And like a mirror ball, the overall effect is bigger than the sum of its parts too. Each little mirror is like our members, team, funders and volunteers. Put them all together and the effect is awe inspiring.

Sadly, Gwyn passed away before Orb came to be. But Mark has fond memories of working alongside him on various mental health awareness and support projects that helped to shape the Orb vision. And there’s no doubt in Mark’s mind about what Gwyn would make of Orb:

“If Gwyn was alive now he’d absolutely be as much a part of this as I am.”

A life of its own

The orb of wonderment or ‘the orb’ as it’s now known still gets about a bit. Not one to sit around gathering dust any more, you can see it appearing in shows and performances around Harrogate and Knaresborough. In fact, at this very moment it’s hanging from the stage in the Frazer theatre.

It’s also been known to go on the road occasionally, just like the old times. Although it’s become something of a diva recently, preferring an executive cardboard box to the rock ‘n’ roll days of rolling about in the back of a van attacking rock cover bands.

Season’s greetings to our community

We’re especially proud of every tiny mirror that makes up our orb of wonderment. We’d be nothing without you our members, funders and volunteers. Here’s to all the shining light we’ll be dazzling the world with in 2011.

Merry Christmas to everyone in the Orb community and thank you!

This blog article was written by Chris Kenworthy: copywriter and photographer

How our volunteers make Orb a hive of activity

Back in 2008 we only had a handful of volunteers. Now we’re bursting at the seams with over fifty Orb volunteers. In fact it’s not unusual to see nine or ten different volunteers coming and going through our doors every week. Our hard-working, talented and generous volunteers put in so much time helping us that their effort is the equivalent to three extra full-time staff at Orb!

Bricks and mortar

If volunteers are the bricks then our funders are the mortar. And our friends at Attend get a special mention because they help make volunteering happen. Their support, advice and funding meant we could take on Leon – the friendly face of our volunteering project. Attend support volunteering in health and social care. They offer resources and support networks to small independent charities like Orb. They’ve helped us apply for grants and even hooked us up with an architect to make better use of space in our new premises.

One-to-one

There’s something really special about volunteering at Orb. Not only do people get to use their skills and talents for a good cause. But because there’s so many volunteers here, we can give our members better support through one-to-one mentoring. That makes Orb really unique. A classroom situation for some of our vulnerable members just wouldn’t work.

One-to-one support at Orb is fuller and more attentive. We nurture individuals who have slipped through the net of mainstream mental health services.

Funding from Attend, our other partners and help from our volunteers makes Orb what it is. That’s flexible one-to-one support for vulnerable individuals that’s as unique as they are. Together we bring out the best in isolated members of our community, inspire confidence and creativity. We give people a strong foundation so they can grow to the next level.

Shining volunteer stars

Here’s just a few of the people who give their time, skills, talent and so much more back to the Orb community:

• Ann teaching photography
• Ed and Danny, students from Leeds Metropolitan University volunteering in the music studio
• The two Davids and Christine running our IT classes
• Claire in charge of our computer network
• Sharon running our art classes

Back in the old days, it used to be tough matching volunteer support with our members’ needs because we were so stretched. Now, thanks to Attend, our other partners and our volunteers, we’re spoilt for choice and Orb is the noisy, bustling hive of creative activity it should be. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

This blog article was written by Chris Kenworthy: copywriter and photographer

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!”

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

Little things making the big things happen at Orb

Guess who’s just taken delivery of a truck-full of shiny new computer and recording studio equipment? Your favourite creative community support organisation Orb has of course! All of our new gear comes courtesy of a grant from the kind folks over at the Big Lottery Fund who saw it fit to help us extend our creative and learning opportunities.

By kindly giving us financial support, the Big Lottery Fund have opened new doors for our community of members, vulnerable individuals with mental health support needs and volunteers. We’re also confident it’ll appeal to younger vulnerable members of our community when they hear about what’s on offer in our newly kitted out recording studio. So let’s have a look at everyone’s new toys …

Brand spanking new IT equipment

First off, we’ve got a brand new IT network, computers and file server in our computer suite which Claire, our IT manager, tells us will benefit our members:

• Everyone gets their own secure file storage space which is automatically backed up
• It’s easy for everyone to access their work using whichever computer they log into
• By speeding things up there’s no more finger twiddling and waiting around for things to load

These things may seem trivial but they’ll make everyone’s time on the computers at Orb much more productive. These benefits will also help people learning to use computers at our free IT classes. Plus – we’ve now got a speedy new computer our members can use specifically for video editing too, it even glows blue!

Shiny new treats in your recording studio

Secondly, the helpful Big Lottery Fund grant has paid for new top of the range equipment in our recording studio:

• A gorgeous new Apple Mac with a huge super-bright monitor
• Industry standard recording software: Cubase, Ableton, Sibelius, Reason and soon Pro Tools

We’ve got more technology so more people will want to come in. It brings us up to date.

Says Josh our studio manager. He thinks the wide variety of industry-standard recording software we’ve now got at Orb means new experiences and more opportunities on offer to young members of our community. We think it’s great that people can pick and choose which skills they want to learn and are not limited to one particular application:

Whoever wants to come in and do whatever they want … they’ll be able to now.

In fact, our recording studio is now so up-to-date Josh is staying behind after work to get more practice on it. That’s the kind of dedication we like at Orb!

Join the party!

We want to see young  members of our community, who might feel isolated or vulnerable, getting creative in our supportive and now high-tech environment. So here’s an invitation to share with friends, family and everyone else: with help from people like Josh and Julian in the recording studio and our other volunteers, we can inspire you, support you and help you grow into the valued, talented member of society you are.

You can contact us for more information, leave us a message on our Facebook page.

This blog article was written by Chris Kenworthy: copywriter and photographer

Free biscuits and basic IT skills: it’s National Get Online Week

Scared that computers might bite if you make a mistake? Want to stay in touch with distant relatives for free using the Internet? Or do you need to sharpen up your skills for that job interview?

Computers don’t bite. And we’re going to prove it at our open day in the Orb IT suite on Friday 22nd October as part of National Get Online Week. There’s so much you can do online today: pay bills, go shopping, share photos, chat and we think it’s a shame there are still people in our local community who don’t know how to get more out of computers and the Internet.

That’s why we’re opening our doors to anyone and everyone: all ages and abilities are welcome. Do you have a relative, friend or neighbour who will benefit from our free IT classes?

What’s there to see during National Get Online Week?

You can come along any time between 9.30am and 3.30pm on Friday 22nd October to see what we’ve got on offer:

• Dedicated modern computer room with Internet access: there’s no queueing here
• Goverment endorsed training: through myguide you’ll get a recognised certificate in basic IT skills which you can show at job interviews
• Experienced teachers: helpful, patient volunteers who’ve taught IT classes professionally
• One-to-one support: our classes are the perfect size for supporting beginners, you won’t get lost in the crowd like at other large IT classes

When you visit, you can talk to our current pupils and find out how they’ve already been contacting their relatives abroad using webcams, emailing their friends and getting more out of their computers instead of letting them gather dust in a corner.

It’s what we were born to do

Our mission at Orb is to support vulnerable people in our creative and friendly environment, we’ve been doing that for over four years. And when people are isolated by technology, we see it as just another risk of them feeling vulnerable. If you feel a bit left out then we can help you, it’s what we do best.

But where are the free biscuits?

There’ll be plenty of biscuits about on our open day, don’t worry. Keep an eye out for the National Get Online Week balloons too showing the route to learn basic IT skills at Orb. You can contact us for more information, leave us a message on our Facebook page or just drop in any time between 9.30am and 3.30pm on Friday 22nd October at Orb HQ in Knaresborough.

Where is Orb HQ?

Find us at Elephant and Castle Yard, Off High Street, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire HG5 0EQ.


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This blog article was written by Chris Kenworthy: copywriter and photographer

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  Orb Community Arts is a registered charity based in Knaresborough. We promote a positive attitude to mental health, are committed to social inclusion and work within the community of Harrogate and North Yorkshire. We offer our own music studio, art space, computer suite and give professional sound and lighting support for local community events.

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