The ‘Fabulous Ladies’
The Creative Wellbeing Group meets once a week for a couple of hours. Sometimes they make something, sometimes they play a game or do a mindfulness exercise, but it’s really about the chat. They have a What’s App group called ‘the fabulous ladies’ and after the group, or during the holidays, they might go out for coffee or lunch. And they received a small grant from the Make it Happen Fund to buy mugs, teas and coffee and materials for the activities.
Everyone has a story and every member of the group is willing to listen to each other and offer support. For Jean who was in recovery, and feeling very isolated, the group offered a way of building relationships and making friends.
She says the group has been ‘a lifeline, a safe space, a place where you can be yourself and talk openly’. There are lots of other groups to go to in Lochee, but two of the members don’t feel confident to go to any others. It is a small group, not too loud, where the members trust each other. And have been through difficult times together, supporting one another through grief and joy.
It’s peer support but the group was set up by and includes a Community Learning and Development worker, who holds and facilitates them. When it gets hard the members say, she ‘stops them going round in circles’.
She says: you can tell when someone walks in how they are… it’s obvious… everyone folds around them. For me as a worker, we always feel like we need to provide an activity. This group is not like that.. we don’t have to fill the space. We chat first, then we do.. to do is a secondary thing. If the chatting overtakes the activity that’s good.’
During my visit, Kirsty read out the story she had written of what the group meant to her:
Over the past two years, I have been battling severe mental health challenges including anxiety, depression, social anxiety and bipolar psychosis disorder. Many others in the group face their own mental health difficulties, and we have been able to support and encourage one another through our experiences.
Last year I spent seven months in hospital, and rejoining the group has been an important part of my recovery journey. When I was struggling, everything felt overwhelming. Even simple things such as being around other people, speaking up or joining in with activities were extremely difficult.
As I began transitioning back into the community after leaving hospital, I returned to the group, which meets once a week. I quickly noticed a real and positive change in myself. The group offers much more than activities; it provides a safe, welcome space where I feel, accepted, understood, and reminded that I am not alone. It is a place where there is no need to pretend – you can arrive exactly as you are.
Through the creative sessions, I have been able to express myself in ways that words sometimes cannot. Activities such as drawing, writing, crafts, and open conversation encourage us to see ourselves as more than our struggles. The mindfulness exercises have helped me slow my thoughts, manage my anxiety and develop coping strategies that I can use outside the group as well.
Most importantly the opportunity to connect with supportive kind people has helped me feel less isolated and has given me a renewed sense of purpose.
Little by little, my confidence has started to grow. I am more comfortable sharing my thoughts, participating in activities, and simply being myself. The group has given me something to look forward to each week, and that sense of routine, belonging and connection has made a significant difference in my recovery journey.
I am incredibly grateful for this space and for the people who make it what it is. The Creative Wellbeing Group has had a genuinely positive impact on my wellbeing, and I am thankful to be a part of it.
As the others listen to her one of them says ‘I am so proud of you’.