Alumna Laura Blatherwick (Drama, 2002) is an arts therapist and charity director of the Youth Arts and Health Trust (YAHT) and today, Friday 10 October – World Mental Health Day – the Trust is relaunching. We spoke with her to find out more about what her journey to becoming a social entrepreneur has been like and what the Trust is all about.
The Youth Arts & Health Trust offers arts therapies and arts opportunities to those aged 5 to 25 who may be experiencing difficulties in their mental health and wellbeing. Founded in 2016, they are based in Exeter and East Devon (providing across Devon when they can) and offer individual and group sessions. These sessions can help with anxiety, depression, understanding neurodiversity, trauma recovery, finding confidence and their voice, and in times of transition and change.
No arts experience is necessary for participants as it’s not about being good at art, it’s about using creativity as well as talking to name and explore issues. They provide services for children, young people and families via local authorities, organisations, adoption and foster care services, schools and for families directly.
So, how did Laura become charity director of the YAHT? Well, travelling back to her Exeter days, during her degree she took part in several opportunities to gain hands on experience of applied theatre and community drama projects and soon became interested in how the process of devising and creating within the arts could be just as powerful and transformative for participants as the product.
Once she finished her degree, she established her first social enterprise Exeter Forum Theatre, which provided drama workshops for homeless and vulnerable housed people. She recalls. “I began to witness how being creative, especially alongside others, offered new opportunities to build skills, confidence and also address personal and social issues through human connection and creativity.”
This led Laura to working with other arts organisations before training as an arts therapist and working within the NHS Psychotherapy Service. It was during her time in the NHS as a clinical lead for arts therapies, that she became more sharply aware of the need for more options for young people and families when needing help with their mental health. She shares, “I would read the news, learn about the increasing mental health crisis for youth people in the UK, and knew I had to do something to help.“
In 2016, Laura secured a place on a course with the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) who gave her valued training and a small grant to set up and run a social enterprise. She contacted a few trusted colleagues from within her networks in health, education and young people services and asked them to consider being trustees. Laura says, “It’s been hard work, but an incredible experience to set up a new organisation from scratch and see it grow”, adding, “I’ve been helped along the way by many people who have donated their time, expertise and creativity. We now provide employment for 10 people and help more than 100 local young people and families each year, including university students.” For her, it was important to take it all one step at a time, ask questions and keep the faith that it was possible.
The Trust is now nine years on from their initial launch and this October sees them move into new rooms within Exeter Central Library where children and young people aged 5 to 25 can access a range of creative therapies including art, drama, music, play and dance movement psychotherapy, all with experienced and registered therapists.
Their services are bought by those who can afford it and for those on lower incomes they have a waiting list for grant and donation funded places. On a weekly basis the Trust provides arts therapy and arts activities for young people experiencing challenges such as anxiety, low mood and suicidal thoughts, loneliness and isolation, recovery from bullying and a history of loss.
The highlights of this career for Laura are in the quiet moments: witnessing someone gradually move from feeling stuck to feeling more hopeful, lighter in themselves, more playful and excited about their future. She elaborates, “Being a therapist is an absolutely privileged job where you are alongside someone as they seek to be honest with themselves and others, to name and explore things that are difficult to express and at the heart of it all is simply the healing power of authentic human connection.” The Trust, and therapists in general, are there to help young people build their own self-compassion and healthy-self strategies for navigating what can be felt as very challenging current times and for the future.
A career like this can have its challenges so what motivates Laura and keeps her going? “Being alongside the people I have the privilege of meeting in my work – both clients and their families as well as creative practitioners and other social entrepreneurs I have learnt a lot from. There are many young people and young adults who inspire me on a regular basis – their courage, wisdom, and their insights into the world.”
In terms of Laura’s hopes for the future of the Trust, she adds, “Our hope for the future is that we can reach more young people and to help others who are struggling with affording or accessing the mental health support they need when they need it most.” The Trust would like to connect more with university students and their families and be able to offer arts therapy sessions for anyone struggling with anxiety or depression or needing a space to work through things with someone they can trust and who can support them. Laura notes, “University life can be challenging as well as enriching and we can offer help and support here in the heart of Exeter. We also have a young person Trustee who is a university student, and she is keen to hear from students about what they would like to see us provide.”
We look forward to following along with this next stage of the Trust and Laura’s career and wish her and the group all the best with their launch event taking place this evening. Make sure to follow the Trust on Instagram and LinkedIn to keep up to date with future developments, and you can connect with Laura herself on LinkedIn. You can also hear more from Laura in her recent BBC Radio Devon interview where she speaks about how creativity helps to change the lives of local families.
Anyone interested in arts therapy can find out more by emailing referrals@youthartsandhealth.org or contacting the Trust via their website. They provide sessions for families who can privately pay, and also have a grant funded waiting list for those who are struggling financially. The Trust cares deeply about ‘plugging the gap’ for families and young people who are struggling to find the mental health support they need as a result of financial, social or other disadvantage. For this reason, they are a not-for-profit organisation and offer grant and donation funded programmes when they can.