Make Sense
Hackney Brocals
The Hackney Brocals convened at Well Space in Homerton for a series of ten creative workshops designed to improve resilience within the male community in Hackney.
The Brocals is a social club for older men that aims to tackle loneliness and its impact on mental health. Hackney has the fifth highest rate of psychotic disorders in the country, with 33,000 residents experiencing depression. Furthermore, the number of residents with dementia is projected to increase by a third over the next three years.
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The challenge is to enable and empower the group through what’s on offer, in a phase of life where they have lost a sense of purpose. Melissa’s knowledge and experience of skills and materials, along with a non-judgemental approach and ability to see the good, is phenomenal.” Ian
Participant and Volunteer
Over ten workshops, we explored a variety of creative activities. These included character and effigy making with sculpture and papier-mâché for Halloween, stencil making combined with Adinkra symbols, sublimation printing onto t-shirts, puppetry in collaboration with Swallow's Wings Puppetry, a mosaic workshop reusing broken crockery, a walk around Homerton combined with mandala creation, nature printing using found foliage, gyotaku fish printing, silk painting and transforming labyrinths into sculptures.
Engage Here uses these workshops to provide sensory stimulation for people with cognitive impairment, improving their well-being and confidence to participate in society. Each workshop, which typically had 10 to 15 participants per session, used a creative process as a vehicle to discuss feelings. This exchange of skills fostered a bond within the group, increasing their mental resilience and providing them with tools to sustain their well-being beyond the workshop.
