2020 has come to an end; look forward with HOPE into 2021. 2020 has been a great adventure for Hope Hub, and we want to share with you some of our highlights of the year: • From January – March, Hope Hub ran expressive art workshops working with groups in the community, providing a safe […]
Connecting People Through Art. Don’t Quit. Empty and Silent. The Human Touch.
The following three poems were used as part of the brief for the MOVEMENT. SCOTLAND x SOUTH AFRICA project, in which five UK based and five South African based artists used their chosen artforms to overcome the constraints of time and distance, and the imposed restrictions of the global coronavirus outbreak to CONNECT THROUGH ART, […]
Breaking Stigma
When talking about mental health, it can be very easy to only focus on the negatives. Yes, that can be a huge factor when it comes to having discussions about mental health, but it is important to put it all out there. One thing that I remember coming across, was seeing the phrase “your story […]
Hope Hub presents ‘A Socially Distanced Conversation’ on 10 October 2020 AKA World Mental Health Day
Event 3: A Socially Distanced Conversation presented by Hope Hub on World Mental Health Day. Live-streamed to Facebook from Roseangle Gallery in Dundee this event will feature a panel, some Zoom guests, and the music of Robbie Ward. see you there.
COVID Collab Lockdown Session 1: Live streamed on 1 October 2020
Zoe MacKenzie (DJ Zodownlo) and her co-collaborators will showcase the music they made during the unprecedented UK wide lockdown experience we all lived through earlier this year. They will also discuss how making and performing music sustains their beings and helps gird their mental health against the uncertainty of the times we are living in. […]
Do not suffer in silence
“What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation” – Glenn Close
Lockdown Survival Tips
My name is Gary Inglis. I am a second year Community Education student and Dundee University and over the next few weeks I will be sharing my thoughts on a range of topics and issues as part of my 3 month long placement with Front Lounge. Lockdown has been one of the most challenging times […]
Reflections in the puddle…
5 years ago, you would have certainly not caught me entering a competition for art, never mind one were my name would be used, and I would have to attend a photoshoot! Not a chance, my answer would have been easy to make, a simple – no way! Nevertheless, who I am today, the me […]
Hope Hub ‘Positivity in Lockdown’ Art Competition winners!
Chelsea McWhinnie (29) & Olivia-Shay (4), winner of the Hope Hub ‘Positivity in Lockdown’ Art Competition! “…I have taken the time during lockdown to reflect, rethink and refocus. I decided to take this negative experience for the world and because of my child turn it into a positive for us. Since even during the darkest […]
Wanderin’ Express
One of the best things Hope Hub has done over lockdown is Family Fun Online. We packed Hope Boxes full of art and activities and met up online to explore creativity in intriguing ways. We all had a scarf. One moment it was a smelly cabbage. and the next it was the stickiest gloop you […]
Important Questions
It is such an exciting time for Hope Hub right now: we have our second Hope Hub LIVE event coming up this weekend! In Scotland more places are starting to reopen; some of us will be returning to work for the first time in months, and we will all have to get used to the […]
I Spy
A couple of weeks ago a handful of single use black and white cameras were handed out to a group of young people. Included with the cameras was ‘I Spy’, a project brief that featured a series of fun tasks with a challenge to think very creatively about photography. Yesterday we collected the cameras! Over […]
Lockdown 2020
So many positives have come from being stuck at home over the past few months – lockdown has given many of us the chance to connect with ourselves, our families, and it has given us the time to try new things and the opportunity to actually relax for a while. Time is so precious. Hope […]
Hope Hub Art Competition
Front Lounge & Overgate team up to celebrate POSITIVITY IN LOCKDOWN! Theme: Submit an artwork that expresses a positive memory from lockdown. This can be anything, poetry, drawing, painting, photography, ceramics… Any type of artwork! Who can enter: Anyone of any age who lives in Angus, Dundee, Fife, Perth & Kinross. Give it a go! […]
Keep an eye out…
We have exciting events and happenings in the pipeline, and will have an announcement about some of these activities soon! Hope Hub wants to include as many people as possible, so keep an eye on this space!
Hope Box to Fife!
This week we have been focused on packing up and delivering Hope Box to Fife – 150 boxes were given out! Every step of this process has been amazing, from carefully packing each box to handing them out to everyone. I lived in Kirkcaldy my entire life before moving to Dundee last year – being […]
Sweet
Life-after-lockdown
It is so hard to imagine light when it has been dark for so long. What will the skies look like when the storm has finally passed? Who really remembers what it was like to feel free and careless and bouncing under the sun and being met with unbegrudging look of peers? It feels like […]
I thought things would get easier
COVID-19 has really ruined my 2020. I feel so helpless and feel as if I’ve wasted the last few months doing absolutely nothing. It’s crazy what being stuck in the house can really do to you. I nearly took a bus into town just to have a walk about. Going to Asda, B&M and Home […]
Everything in between
– The good days, the bad days and everything in between the comforting cup of tea while anxiously relaxing on the settee – It is hard to comprehend the situation at hand two feet grounded on the floor I pause breathe but I still cannot understand – Day in, day out, it all feels the […]
Many Faces of Hope
How do we define hope? Most of us don’t know but the ones who know, don’t know how to find it, some will deny it, even hide it, claiming life is merely coincidental not influential. The idea becomes so subjective, but still its everyones objective, it’s an obsession yet an international suppression causing depression. Hope […]
Time to Talk Abuse
It’s mental health awareness week and I thought I’d pitch in. We have watched the world react to a viral pandemic, some communities and countries are doing much better than others but everywhere has had to do something to stop the spread of disease. It happened so quickly and so much awareness was brought to […]
Behind The Mask
We can hide many things That people believe to be true But how many of those people Know the real you? — x — You hide behind a mask Because life is hard to grasp But how long do you think That can really last — x — Let down your guard And take a […]
Till the Sea calls me home…
Writing about walking in my last post has got me thinking a whole lot about it and my favourite walks which I’ll cover in depth over time but today I was just thinking… I miss the sea. Every time I go home the first thing on my list is to put on my trainers and […]
My-heart-won’t-be-the-same-A-Tale-of-Grief
Like struggling for air at the bottom of the sea… Like not being able to see your own hands you know so well for the mist shrouding your own mind. Clouds of consciousness swirl their way across your eyes, half memories mixed with a sense of sorrow yet joy. Thank God I can remember you; […]
This won’t last forever.
I’ve been having a tough time the past week, nothing seems to be going right. I can’t seem to get any cleaning done in the house or in the garden, cannot seem to do any work, Grace won’t eat her tea, my laptop’s not working properly, and most of all Grace is playing up and won’t leave me […]
Hey Everyone, Me Again
It feels like day 10000 of being on lockdown with a child, we are surviving… on sweets and junk food! The days feel as if they are getting shorter, the time seems to be flying. I’m so glad I have a back garden to spend most of my time in but we are trying to […]
We Call That Hope
We call that HopeYou see that glimmerWe call that hopeSo please stop and thinkLet go of the rope It’s hard todayMaybe even tomorrowBut it will get betterWe can take it slowly This is a bad dayBut not a bad lifeIt will get betterDig deep and fight Hold on to hopeIt will see you throughEven on […]
Stay Home, Stay Safe
Stay Home, Stay SafeAt the moment we feelLike we are stuck at homeWhen in realityWe are actually safe We don’t find it easyFeel out of controlMessed up routinesAnd daily unknowns But why don’t we take a minuteTo appreciate what we haveBecause others are missing outAnd it is making them sad Out frontline workersFind it hard, […]
Finding A Way Through
We are a few weeks into lockdown at the time of writing this. I think. I have lost track of time. Living in isolation like this is not so unusual to me, with having spent so many years of my life with chronic mental and physical illness I have spent a lot of time on […]
Mental health while in isolation
Covid-19 has affected me in many ways. When I first herd of the coronavirus I thought it wasn’t as serious and I thought everyone was just over reacting and it would be over just as quickly as it started with no effects. I was wrong. When all the panic buying hit its peak, I started […]
Hey
So today I wanna talk about how I’m keeping myself and Grace occupied during this crazy time. Not going to lie it’s been super hard and I’ve spent so much money on little things that I wouldn’t usually spend money on. She’s ate so much junk and watched so much TV and I’ve neglected my […]
How am I coping…
We are living through a moment in history, a moment that will be taught to generations, in schools and universities, we will learn a huge amount from this pandemic, invaluable information that only a crisis can teach us. It’s important to remember that this is just a moment, a moment that will pass. Living with […]
Covid-19
So much uncertaintyAnd lack of controlNo clear way forwardWe fear the unknown Stuck with a virusThey call Covid-19It brings many lessonsEven how to keep clean But don’t be disheartenedOr live in despairWe will get through thisSometime and somewhere Separated by distanceThe heart longs for moreI can’t wait for the dayI can show up at your […]
