Creating a safe and nurturing space in the Glasgow community through art and creativity

GL events’ support of the charity Common Wheel has led to involvement in their Carnival Club workshop. The Carnival Club uses art to help local people with mental health difficulties learn new skills and create pieces that go towards a real-world commission at live events.

The Carnival Club

The Carnival Club is a visual arts programme where participants meet once a week to collaborate with a professional artist to produce pieces that are showcased at events across Glasgow.

The club has been run by Common Wheel since 2016, and its success led to the organisation running three twelve-week blocks of the workshop each year. These workshops are open to people struggling with or recovering from mental illness. It doesn’t matter whether participants have little or no artistic experience; everyone is welcome.

Wendy and Jane, Common Wheel’s resident artists, create a warm and welcoming atmosphere for participants, which allows them to express their creativity and get involved with these community projects.

The idea introduces group techniques for making costumes and sculptures that allow the people involved to express ideas and designs individually, whilst providing the additional benefit of interacting with a wider community of people.

The workshop allows participants to have fun and gain confidence in a relaxed atmosphere which can help to have a significant positive impact on their wellbeing. 

By giving the group the opportunity to display their work in public, Common Wheel has enabled a great reflection of their achievements and allowed them to hit meaningful goals that have been set. The sessions run for 12 weeks and offer a group meeting once a week for two hours.

Participants have been involved in creating art pieces that have been displayed to local people at events like the Glasgow Style Mile Carnival, the Merchant City Festival, the Helix Fire & Light Festival, the Botanic Gardens Light Show, and many more. This provides value to both the local community and local business by encouraging community engagement at these events.

The impact

Lots of participants find that the sessions become a key part of their recovery, helping them secure employment or move into further education. One of the members of the Carnival Club shared their thoughts about how it has had a positive impact on their wellbeing.

“Without a doubt, it is the highlight of my week and a real lifeline, something that I look forward to and which brightens my routine.”

GL events has been involved in sponsoring places for participants at the carnival club workshops as part of our social value strategy alongside our delivery of overlay to the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow. As a group, we love the idea of bringing community groups together and using creativity to help those struggling to build meaningful connections with others that support them through their recovery. We take our commitment to corporate social responsibility seriously, as overlay suppliers it's important to provide a wider benefit and social value to the community where events are taking place.

It is obvious to see the positive social impact that Common Wheel is having within the local community, and GL events is proud to be supporting that change. Being involved in art projects and creative activities can give individuals the opportunity to transform their negative feelings and relieve stress, which has a negative outcome on both mental and physical health.

If you would like to donate to the organisation, you can do this via their Wonderful Payments page or PayPal, where 100% of contributions go directly to the charity.