Previously loved items deserve a second chance to inspire us again; people with mental health problems deserve a second chance to take control of their life. In today's throw-away society it seems that nothing is valuable, that we can change our clothes or even the people around us in the blink of an eye. We want people to return to valuing what is all around them, show them that creativity, lifelong learning and empathy are powerful tools than can change the world! Chic&Craft is an on-line training course specially designed for people with mental health issues which aims to re-use and recycle second-hand clothes and waste materials to create a unique European fashion brand where hand-craft designs and original creations play a major role. Hand-craft is a therapeutic activity; through crafts, people can express themselves in a safe, non-threatening manner, which may be easier than sharing their internal feelings verbally. Inspired by this way of understanding the world, a complete set of training modules have been created, including the most frequently used fashion design techniques, creative ideas to implement with training groups and empowerment tools. 49 people with severe and prolonged mental illness (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc.) have been trained in five different pilot experiences in Spain, Slovenia, Germany, Greece and Lithuania during six months. Also, 10 trainers from these countries were involved in the testing phase. Feedback from these experiences helped us to improve the quality of the teaching materials and, hopefully, will inspire other organizations to reproduce the experience in the future. Employment is recognized as providing people with a social identity, sense of meaning and sense of self-esteem, and there is a close inter-relationship between the EU’s policy objectives of prosperity, social inclusion and security and public health on the one hand, and mental health on the other. Although labour integration is a crucial step in the recovery process, employment rates within this target group barely reaches 10%. That is why learning opportunities for people with mental illness are so important and needed, they can pave the way to employment. Through Chic&Craft project, we have empowered the trainees to look for a job, in the clothing sector or in any other sector, as the abilities trained are useful for any kind of job. All the partners organized promotional events to give visibility to the initiative and some of them organized pop-up stores and catwalks were the designs elaborated during the course were shown. Those were funny and positive anti-stigma actions that showed the community the potential, creativity and valuable skills that people living with mental illness have. The key innovative factor in this training course lies on the methodology based on peer learning, which complements the recycling textiles technical knowledge. The choice of these two sectors was grounded in previous research and experience of some project partners: it has been proven that hand-craft is an effective therapeutic activity for people suffering from mental health problems and that peer learning is an efficient recovery “vehicle”. The figure of the peer mentor helped to realize about the hidden abilities of the participants and also to commit with their own learning process. Peer learning is mutually beneficial and involves the sharing of knowledge, ideas and experience between the participants. Through practical experiences, trainees developed skills in organizing and planning learning activities, working with others in a collaborative way, giving and receiving feedback and assessing their own learning process. The fashion design units and the peer learning toolkit are freely available online in the Chic & Craft platform http://chicandcraft.intras.es/ Chic&Craft is an explosive mix of creativity, imagination, artistic expression, responsibility, recovery, communication, team building, autonomy and entrepreneurship. Their hands, their willingness to learn and work, together with some support, are all they need to change their world.
Previously loved items deserve a second chance to inspire us again; people with mental health problems deserve a second chance to take control of their life. In today's throw-away society it seems that nothing is valuable, that we can change our clothes or even the people around us in the blink of an eye. We want people to return to valuing what is all around them; show them that creativity, lifelong learning and empathy are powerful tools than can change the world! Chic&Craft is an on-line training course specially designed for people with mental health issues which aims to re-use and recycle second-hand clothes and waste materials, creating a unique European fashion brand where hand-craft designs and original creations play a major role. Hand-craft is a therapeutic activity; through crafts, people can express themselves in a safe, non-threatening manner, which may be easier than sharing their internal feelings verbally. Inspired by this way of understanding the world, a complete set of training modules have been created including creative ideas to implement with vulnerable training groups. 63 people with mental illness have been trained in Spain, Slovenia, Germany, Greece and Lithuania during six months. Feedback from these experiences helped us to improve the quality of the teaching materials developed and, hopefully, will inspire other organizations to reproduce it in the future. The key innovative factor in this training course lies in the methodology of peer learning which complements the recycling textiles technical knowledge. The figure of the peer mentor has been created to help the trainees to realise their hidden abilities and commit with their own learning process. Peer learning is mutually beneficial and involves the sharing of knowledge, ideas and experience between the participants. Through practical experiences, trainees achieved to develop skills in organizing activities, working with others in a collaborative way, giving and receiving feedback and assessing their own learning process. A practical toolkit is available on the platform, including tips and suggestions to apply peer learning to empower people with mental illness, being applicable also to other training courses. Chic&Craft is an explosive mix of creativity, imagination, artistic expression, responsibility, recovery, communication, team building and autonomy. Their hands, their willingness to learn and work, together with some support, is all they need to change their world. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Las prendas que un día nos enamoraron merecen una segunda oportunidad para volver a inspirarnos; del mismo modo las personas con malestar psíquico merecen una segunda oportunidad para tomar de nuevo el control sobre sus vidas. En nuestra sociedad actual todo es desechable, parece que nada tenga valor, que podamos cambiar nuestra ropa e incluso las personas a nuestro alrededor en un abrir y cerrar de ojos. Queremos volver a valorar lo que nos rodea ¡demostrar que la creatividad, las ganas de aprender y la empatía son armas poderosas que pueden cambiar el mundo! Chic & Craft es un curso formativo on-line diseñado para que personas con malestar psíquico aprendan a reutilizar y reciclar prendas de segunda mano y materiales de desecho, creando una marca textil europea en la que juegan un papel relevante los diseños artesanales y las creaciones originales. La artesanía ha demostrado ser una actividad terapéutica con la que podemos expresarnos de forma segura y más fácilmente que de forma verbal. Inspirados por esta forma de entender el mundo, hemos desarrollado unos módulos formativos sobre cómo diseñar prendas creativas, teniendo en cuenta las necesidades especiales de las personas con malestar psíquico. Un total de 63 personas con enfermedad mental se han formado en España, Eslovenia, Alemania, Grecia y Lituania durante seis meses. Lo aprendido durante esta fase nos ha ayudado a mejorar la calidad de los materiales didácticos y esperamos que el ejemplo inspire a otras organizaciones para que en el futuro implementen el curso. El factor innovador radica en la metodológica basada en el aprendizaje de pares que complementa los conocimientos sobre reciclaje y transformación de textiles. Se ha creado la figura del mentor para ayudar a los alumnos durante la formación y aumentar su motivación. El aprendizaje entre iguales beneficia a ambas partes y conlleva que los participantes compartan conocimientos, ideas y experiencias. A través de ejercicios prácticos, se han entrenado distintas capacidades para comunicar, trabajar con otras personas, escuchar y evaluar su propio proceso de aprendizaje. Esta guía incluye además consejos para aplicar el apoyo de pares a la hora de capacitar personas con enfermedad mental que pueden ser aplicables a cualquier otro tipo de curso formativo. Chic & Craft es una mezcla explosiva de creatividad, imaginación, expresión artística, responsabilidad, recuperación, comunicación y autonomía.