B&Q Basildon

Building communities and strengthening families

Taking part in art and craft activities can help reduce social isolation, increase self esteem and boost self confidence. Participation is of great benefit to children, young people and adults with special needs, physical disabilities and mental health issues and group activities can also help build communities. The Art Ministry runs regular sessions for 8 different groups of around 100 people in total, with various needs, and provides art and craft activities at around 10 community events for around 500 people in total each year, including free activities at a sports day and fun festival for disabled people. During the various lockdowns all of our in-house, outreach and community art and craft activities were suspended, but we did our best to distribute "Creating from home" activity bags to the most vulnerable socially isolated members of our local community and to run sessions via Zoom. The Art Ministry needs your assistance to help manage these activities, to cover the cost of materials, rent and the salaries of part-time session leaders. We are also happy to accept donated art and craft supplies.

Kids Inspire is a charity supporting children, young people and their families who are experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma and other mental health concerns. Creative therapy gives a young person a weekly space while trauma resolution services help a child to process adverse life experiences. They are taught a range of skills to enable them to cope with and be resilient to life’s daily challenges. Alongside this, we work with their family. More young people than ever are asking for our help, which is why we are leading the way to deliver lasting mental health and trauma recovery support.