Designs in Mind is one of 16 organisations featured in our report on visual arts opportunities for people with mental health problems, Creatively Minded in the Art Studio. Designs in Mind have also received a small grant from the Foundation to further develop their commercial collaborations.
Designs in Mind is a studio in Oswestry, Shropshire where adults living with mental health challenges collaborate on ambitious art and design projects. We aim to help people live full, meaningful lives by building confidence, skills and community through participatory arts workshops.
Through creating innovative public art installations, ambitious design collaborations, and high-quality retail collections we are raising aspirations beyond our Studio.
Founded over 30 years ago by Jo Davis within an NHS Day Centre, we have grown to support over 100 adults with a diverse portfolio of projects. Our core programme, funded by an NHS Contract, includes 10-week new referral courses and weekly workshops, supporting adults for an average of three years.
We also offer outreach workshops in rural communities and for specific demographics (LGBTQ+, perinatal mental health), funded by trusts and foundations, and income from our commercial activities including public art commissions, design collaborations, and retail collections.
Our work
We support 106 adults with mental health diagnoses, aged between 18 and 75. 74% identify as women, 24% as men, and 2% as non-binary. Most referrals come via mental health partners including GPs, social prescribers, and mental health teams. To encourage preventative support, we are increasing awareness of self-referral pathways. We support people living with various mental health diagnoses, including psychosis, acute anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder.
Our Listen and Connect Team promotes our services locally through posters, leaflets, and attending Community Connector meetings. They also arrange visits from social prescribers to our Studio.
Before joining our weekly Studio workshop programme, New Referrals attend a 10-week course. This course introduces art skills in smaller groups to ease social anxiety and foster peer support among those with shared experiences.
The course covers artistic processes like lino printing, screen printing, drawing, collage, embroidery, and ceramics. After completing the course, participants can join our regular weekly art workshops and community peer-led support groups, providing a sense of progression and the option for further support.
Our weekly Workshop Programme is where our ‘Members’ (those who have progressed from the New Referrals Course) work together on a range of public art installations, design collaborations, and retail collection designs.
Keeping our programme ambitious and innovative helps Members to build confidence and transferable skills for success beyond our Studio. The visibility of our work is important – we are not just working to improve the wellbeing of our service users but to engender a sense of ambition to anyone living with a mental health challenge who engages with our work or story.
Members typically access our support for an average of three years. We offer internal training and volunteering opportunities to boost the ambition of long-term members, helping them develop skills for education, employment, or external volunteering opportunities.
Our impact
Our programme of participatory arts workshops and listening support helps Members and New Referrals to learn non-clinical creative coping mechanisms in the form of self-directed/exploratory/experimental art activities. This supports people to maintain and improve their wellbeing in the long term, both whilst attending the Studio, but also at home.
Many people when first attending tell us that they can’t do things e.g. can’t draw, can’t talk in a group, can’t walk into the Studio on their own etc. For many attending for the first time, it is often the only time in the week they leave the house.
Through providing a safe and encouraging space for people to try new things, our Members are building resilience and learning that mistakes are a part of the process. This resilience and confidence impacts lives beyond the studio – we see people taking steps to live full and meaningful lives by meeting friends and family, volunteering elsewhere, and returning to employment and education.
Our 2024 Member Survey revealed that 89% of Members reported increased wellbeing as a result of attending Designs in Mind.
In 2024 we also prevented 15 mental health crises and supported 12 members to move on to employment or other opportunities.
What’s next?
Whilst often considered an affluent county, Shropshire has pockets of poverty and health inequalities. We aim to expand our impact beyond Oswestry through outreach workshops in 2025, targeting community hubs like libraries, hospital foyers, and parish halls. Our mission is to tackle health inequalities, access barriers, and rural isolation for those facing mental health challenges.
We are always seeking new opportunities to showcase Members’ work on a larger scale to inspire more people.
As part of the Vibrant Vyrnwy initiative at RSPB Lake Vyrnwy, we are developing a Nature Prescriptions Calendar to provide rurally isolated individuals with seasonal, accessible prompts for engaging with nature.
Designed by our Members through papercutting, collage, and illustration, the calendar will be distributed through GP surgeries and support groups.
This resource will promote nature engagement by suggesting local sites to explore, boosting confidence and appreciation for the environment.
Charlotte is Fundraising Officer at Designs in Mind.
