From March 2021 to March 2022 Phoenix Rising delivered an ambitious Social Prescribing programme across Preston, Morecambe and Kirkby Lonsdale. The programme integrated art, nature and movement and was evaluated by Lancaster University.
The programme was funded by the Arts Council Thriving Communities fund. We were delighted by the outcomes and you can read the full evaluation below.
What We Delivered
- 310 workshops
- 1,093 participants
- 4,116 audience members
Outcomes
- 97% said they had improved their wellbeing
- 66% made progress towards set goals
- 96% approval rating
- Average Wellbeing score improvement of 16%
- Generalised anxiety disorder scores 49% lower
What Participants Said
“It’s brought me out of my shell at 60!”
“I can just now go out and about and feel like I know some people which helps with confidence.”
“It is like a lifeline. It is like a ‘press the reset’ button on a Friday… I know there will be a huge release of energy, and I just look forward to doing that.”
“Phoenix Rising has helped me to find who I was. I know my outlook has changed and I know that without the classes I would still be sat in my jimjams all day doing nothing.” “Sleeping better, feeling more confident. I am so proud of myself for sticking with the group.
“I started to feel slightly negative towards being here only because my family are mostly elsewhere, but now I just feel completely different about that I am perfectly happy to stay here, doing things and I can go out now and meet up with my family whenever I want.
It has it has made me feel like I belong. Which I had absolutely no feelings about that whatsoever before, so it has made a big difference to my life.”
“The program has added value to not only my life but to those around me. Family and friends have seen a change and my husband says from his perspective – ‘a happy wife means a happy life’… I no longer spend my days doing nothing. I have reconnected with friends”
Evaluation of Delivery
“It was excellent, very professional, well organised”
“Just being there is enough, because the energy in the room, the smiles and the music is so uplifting, improvement in physical and mental wellbeing is inevitable…”
“I have found it so beneficial to relaxing my mind and also helping to ease my body”
“She is clearly very, very talented and being able to pass that onto others as I say in such a constructive and enthusiastic way is not something everybody can do.”
Participants also appreciated that the leaders created an inclusive and supportive atmosphere within the workshops which they felt was conducive to mental stability and growth.
“She [had a] very relaxed informal style, and [was] inclusive and supportive so you didn’t feel like there was anything wrong, it was all valid…”
“The enthusiasm of the teacher and her suggestions of movements that we could make, and her outright extraversion was just quite incredible to see. And it really makes you think that you can’t make a fool of yourself. It was wonderful.”
“I haven’t done yoga in years, and it was a really nice way to kind of get back into it. And kind of touch and reconnect with it”
“I didn’t know the power of dance and movement. I didn’t realise how much it could be a mood changer, just incredible. But I don’t know how much of it was being with others doing it. I think that might have been the difference. […] I think it was being with other people who were enjoying the music […] And another thing that I realised that I didn’t know was I am not as unfit as I thought I was!”
“If I have had a long day at work and I feel kind a bit stress or tension whatever, I think of yoga as something I can do to help with that. Whereas I guess in the past I didn’t really.”
