Helping beat mental illness through music session in Doncaster

There is talk of how smart everyone is on their way in to the races, compared to how they are when they come out again after a days racing, high heels in hand after a tiring day.

Then the Ukeleles come out, and music fills the hall of the Edlington Lane venue.

This is Creative Directions. Set up by the Doncaster community arts group Darts, it is using music to help adults who have been experiencing mental health issues.

Rupert Suckling, director of public health in Doncaster, recently told a Doncaster Free Press round table discussion that Doncaster was no different from the rest of the country, so it was known that mental health problems are among its biggest health problems and are more common than cancer and heart disease.

One in four people in their lifetime will have a mental health problem, and at any one time one in six people will have a mental health problem, he said.The same event saw calls for more help in our communities.

Originally running in Doncaster town centre, the Creative Directions scheme has now extended into those communities in the borough, running in Edlington and at Alexander House in Askern.

Organisers say that life can be a confusing and stressful place if you have mental health problems, and Creative Directions is a group for adults that uses arts workshops to help people experiencing mental health difficulties get back on track.

Activities are run to help people express themselves and develop new friendships and learn new skills and ignite new passions.

The sessions are free and you don't have to be having mental health issues to join in.

With the musical instruments out, the group attending at Yorkshire Main are writing a song. They're using the ideas they have discussed about the St Leger to put together a folk song.

Sessions are led by Jamie Rosser, a former builder, a former miner, and a man who changed his careers after encountering mental health issues himself.

Jamie had suffered from learning difficulties, epilepsy and a mood disorder, leading to him leaving his previous job due to his illness.

As part of his recovery he took part in Darts schemes. That led to him joining the group as a volunteer, joining the staff team in 2008. He is also a part time wellbeing worker with the mental health charity MIND

He said: "Darts was like therapy. It was an environment that helped me focus, and distance myself from personal issues."

When Creative Directions started, he was among those involved. The sessions involve professional artists, with Jamie the constant presence.

The artists vary.

Gary Hammond, the former percussionist from The Beautiful South has been involved with sessions. So has the composer Luke Carver Goss.

And the famous Barnsley poet Ian McMillan has taken groups, creating words to go with the music that the groups produces.

"It is not just for people with mental health issues," said Jamie. "It is for everyone who wants to come, and the theme is folk music, which means getting a group of people together, talking about the community past, present, and future, their dreams and desires, and putting it into music and poetry.