12 July 2024
Create for Confidence team members Naomi and Lucy (also of ARC West) collaborated with the local community and a community garden to co-develop guidelines on how to make a safe space. They officially launched the guidelines on Monday 24 June 2024 at Redcatch Community Garden.
The guidelines are for community organisations on how to make a safe space to support wellbeing and mental health. There is the “Safe Space Guide” designed by adults, and “The Young People’s Safe Spaces Guidelines” designed by 8-14 year olds. These guidelines aim to foster inclusive, respectful, and welcoming environments for all community members.
Naomi Warne (researcher), Lucy Condon (patient and public involvement and engagement facilitator) and Jenny Clarke (art therapist) worked with the local Bristol community to explore what makes a safe and welcoming space to support mental health and wellbeing.
Naomi, Lucy and Jenny used art and nature activities to start conversations with two groups; one of 11 adults and one of 13 young people. Over the course of four co-design workshops the research team supported each of the groups to design guidelines on how to create a safe space. The group also incorporated views from the wider community – from one-to-one conversations and written suggestions collected by the research team.
The launch event, held in the Canopy at Redcatch Community Garden, was a celebration of the guidelines and their creation. Attendees included members of community organisations, mental health professionals, researchers, guideline co-creators, and other members of the local community.
Art work from the co-design workshops was displayed around The Canopy, highlighting the breadth of ideas and creativity within the workshops. There was a display area for the guidelines, where the key points were presented on large posters and the guideline booklets were available to take home.
The event started with a welcome from Jenny, then Naomi and Lucy explained the participatory process used to create the adult and young people’s guidelines. One of the adult co-creators, Ian, shared his insights of the co-creation process, reflecting positively on the experience.
Naomi, Lucy and Jenny launched the guidelines on behalf of the co-creators. The adult Safe Space Guide was launched as a poster with key points, and a booklet giving further description of each guideline. The Young People’s Safe Spaces Guidelines were launched as an animation and a zine.
Attendees were invited to get creative with interactive activities. The guidelines were presented on large pieces of paper for people to comment on, draw on and decorate. There was also the opportunity to try out one of the workshops activities and create a “safety box” containing items to help you feel safe. Lots of people got involved, including Alfie the garden cat!
Naomi, Lucy and Jenny really enjoyed talking to everyone and had some brilliant discussions. The team are extremely grateful to everyone who took the time to join them for the launch event, and for the feedback received. Feedback written about the guidelines included:
“Thank you for sharing these – I want to practice the guidelines in the spaces I use/support”
“Really helps a lot to make people feel safe”
“Love the presentation and illustrations”
“Beautiful illustrations. Will share with my colleagues – so valuable to have all this in one space – thank you!”
For more information about the guidelines and how you can create safe spaces, please visit: https://www.redcatchcommunitygarden.com/safespacesproject
If you would like more information about the Safe Spaces research project, please contact Naomi: naomi.warne@bristol.ac.uk