Compass Recovery College worked with Berkshire West Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to develop two Creative Arts workshops which responded to steps the CCG are taking to make Mental Health crisis pathways more readily available and accessible for people. The new 111 Crisis Line offers a single point of access for all mental health
calls and the new ‘Breathing Space’ is a safe and welcoming place where people can go if they are feeling emotionally distressed or need mental health support.
The creative response workshops were delivered by Compass arts facilitator Lisa-Marie Gibbs, Compass Peer Recovery worker Mark Dibben and Compass Volunteers Gareth Evans and Nigel Woosey. Compass participants with lived experience of mental health challenges were invited to explore how we communicate through images and used their
imaginations to creatively respond to the new Crisis Line and Café. The group journeyed together with the concept of mental health crisis, what the line and café would mean to them, and how they can be accessed in
a period of crisis.

The Clinical Commissioning Group will now feature these designs in their press releases and communications. They will also feature on the new Compass website.
“This course has opened my eyes and helped me to improve my art and enjoy my art more. Art is a therapy and I can bring out my feeling through art.”
“As someone with experience of looking up crisis help (very recently too!) I think this (creative workshop) is a brilliant idea. At the moment, there are a lot of web pages with a lot of text but nothing that really stands out as saying “you can call this number for immediate help”.”
“Please thank everyone who supported me. I had no confidence to show my work and now with all your lovely comments I am showing my work. Life is great when we all are there for each other. The Compass
workshops are great because we all understand each other, and we’ve all been there. Thanks for being there for me.”