A review by Tim Russell with pictures …

The CoolTan Arts Largactyl Shuffle celebrated the origins of May Day and the arrival of Spring on 18 May when we walked from Tate Modern to Burgess Park.

Photos by: Amy Bradshaw

Our first stop was Quilp Gardens, where we learnt about the origins of May Day and its folklore. After making some garlands we moved on to the church gardens of St George the Martyr, to hear about how the Italians celebrate May Day, going right back to the Roman festival of Floralia.

As part of the celebrations of  CoolTan’s move to the new building, a new exhibition, ‘Skyscape’, will have its opening party on  Tuesday 16^th July 2013 from 6-9pm.

by Aaron Pilgrim

The exhibition itself will run from 16^th July to 12^th August, and submissions of artwork on the theme of  ‘Southwark Skies’ (interpret that as you wish!) are wanted from participants, staff, volunteers and any other interested artists.

The submission deadline is 10^th July and there is a registration cost for each piece of art of £5(unwaged)/£10(waged) . Your work needs to be already framed.

We will be closed for the May Bank Holiday on Monday 27th May. We will be open on Tuesday 28th May as usual.

If you are experiencing an emotional or mental crisis please go to the  Southwark Council website for contact numbers and information.

This page lists the emergency social services contact number for Southwark council – 0207 525 5000, when you ring this number the recorded message says it is closed out of hours, but  if you wait until the end of the message and then press  ‘ option 2 ‘ it will put you through to the emergency contact, open 24 hours.

Have fun, try something new and meet new people at the Mad Hatters’ Tea Party! It will be a fun-filled afternoon with free workshops, refreshments and the chance to see our new exhibition!

• Visual Art Workshop 1:30 – 2:30
Discover your creative side with this relaxed drop-in arts workshop.
• Mindfulness and Attention Workshop 2:30 – 3:15
Be led into body awareness with the breath & experience feelings of mindfulness in a safe and warm environment.
•  I’m a Commissioner – get me out of here! Workshop 3:15 – 4:30
You’re holding well over £400,000,000 and everyone wants a piece of it!

Saturday 22nd June 2013 11.45pm

Meet at Tate Modern, Turbine Hall entrance, Bankside, London SE1 9TG
Ends: Maudsley Hospital Denmark Hill, SE5 8AZ.

Join CoolTan Arts for a fun guided midnight walk – an exciting evening of summer solstice lunacy!

The walk will visit a number of local buildings with an unusual design or purpose and look at the mysterious psychological effects that these locations can have on people. There will be stops at the Marshalsea, where Charles Dickens’ father was imprisoned; the Heygate Estate, a huge neo-Brutalist estate currently being demolished; Camberwell House, a former asylum; and Cross Bones Cemetery, a disused post-Medieval burial ground that was once on unconsecrated graveyard for sex workers.

Join CoolTan Arts’ Sponsored Walk, celebrate World Mental Health Day and help us raise money to keep CoolTan Arts open and helping people with mental distress. The walk will be a fun interactive event with talks, discussion and performance along the way.

Saturday 12th October 2013, starting at 11.30am at Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, SE5 8AZ (outside the main entrance) and walking to the Southbank Centre, Belvedere Rd  London SE1 8XX.

Everyone is welcome!

Alex Langford will be taking part in the Northants 35 mile Ultramarathon on Sunday 2nd June in aid of CoolTan Arts.
Alex says,“CoolTan … offer people with mental health issues a range of creative workshops. They also offer self-advocacy classes, which teach people how to speak up about their situation, and ask their care team questions like ‘what drugs am I on?’, ‘why?’ and ‘do I have a choice?’ … these are topics I feel passionately about. We should have way more of them, which makes the total cut in NHS funding that CoolTan suffered recently all the worse.

CoolTan Arts is starting a new Product Design Course
Tuesdays 1-4pm, 10 weeks, starting  from Tuesday 7th May

This course will give you the opportunity to research and design products for sale at CoolTan.

You will learn how to work using a design brief, carry out research into similar products and potential outlets, develop and refine your ideas, learn new techniques and make product prototypes. Products could include: greetings cards, bags, jewellery, art and craft kits and prints.

This course will give you the skills you need to make and sell your work and could help you progress on to art and design college courses.

Tuesdays 9-10am
10 weeks starting on Tuesday 21st May

Free to attend and open to all beginners.

Come and learn this ancient, gentle martial art and improve your mental and physical well being.

Please get in touch with Sara: sara@cooltanarts.org.uk or phone 020 7701 2696 to register.

Fridays, 3-5pm at CoolTan Arts

8 Weeks starting on Friday 3rd May

Paula Roush – artist and creator of the Found Photo Foundation will be doing a series of 8 workshops with CoolTan over May/early June which are open to anyone interested in making arts.
Develop your creativity and skills through working with a professional artist, work with photography, visual arts and found objects to create your own work, and see it exhibited in a professionally curated exhibition in June 2013!

Workshops are free and open to anyone.

Please contact Sara Kelly to find out more and sign up:
sara@cooltanarts.org.uk or phone 020 77012696

Workshop opportunities with CoolTan every Tuesday and Thursday in our new Community Kitchen.
We have an exciting opportunity with our newest workshop, CoolTan Arts Cooking club, for Southwark residents with experience of mental distress. You are invited to join weekly workshops to share and learn the skills to cook your own healthy and nutritious food on a budget.

The workshops are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:30am – 2pm, This project is only open to people who live in SE1, SE16, and Se5.

The workshops run on both Tuesdays & Thursdays from 11:30am – 2pm
Tuesday sessions start on 4th June 2013
Thursday sessions start on the 20th June 2013

The project will run until May 2014 and you can sign up at any point during the year.

On April 20th, the Extreme Psychiatry team from Kings College Hospital completed a three-legged climb of Mount Snowdon in Wales to raise money for CoolTan Arts and Signal.
Each person was tied to another member of the team for the entire 1,000 metre ascent! The brave ones who took on the challenge were: Johan Lindskog, Zach Ferguson, Kim Plummer, Celia Shiles, Meriki Hill, Strings, Lucy Wilford and Matt Fernando.

We would like to say a huge thank you to the Extreme Psychiatry team and all their supporters, who have so far raised almost £2,800 for the two charities!

Saturday 18th May
Time: 11.30am-4.30pm
Place: Tate Modern (outside The Turbine Hall entrance), Bankside, London SE1 9TG
Cost: free/voluntary donation

Join CoolTan Arts Largactyl Shuffle for the May Day Walk, a guided, stigma-busting cultural walk, designed to encourage mental and physical wellbeing, through art, exercise, humour and history.

For May’s Largactyl Shuffle we will walk through green spaces to celebrate the origins of May Day and the arrival of  Spring. Learn about the folklore of traditional May Day celebrations, including the history of the Maypole and Jack in the Green, garland making and guerilla gardening.

Wednesday 12th June, 3-5pm at CoolTan Arts
Open to CoolTan Arts Staff, Participants and Volunteers

The men’s group is a regular, participant-facilitated peer-support group. We have detailed discussions on issues that affect us; support each other with matters that have arisen in our lives and responding to music, art and writing. Our next meeting is on the 12th of June from 3-5pm.

Wednesday 15th May, 1-3pm at CoolTan Arts

Are you interested in the arts and would you like to find out more about CoolTan Arts Workshops?

• Are you, or somebody you know, experiencing mental distress?
• Are you looking for activities to help your recovery?
• Do you want to break isolation, meet new people and explore your creativity?

Come along to CoolTan Arts New Referrals Information Session.

The Dickens News – A heritage newspaper created by CoolTan Arts participants and published in partnership with the Southwark News is now available as a digital publication.
The paper celebrates the life and work of Charles Dickens, with a contemporary creative twist and social comment to boot!

The Dickens News is an original 8 page newspaper examining the relevance of Dickens’ work to today and brings to life and contemporises the characters created by Dickens. Articles, poetry and illustration explore Dickens early years in the local area of Southwark and compare and contrast society and social issues in Dickensian and modern day London.

A review by Tim Russell with Pictures …

The CoolTan Arts Largactyl Shuffle launched a new route on Saturday 20th April when we walked from Tate Modern to Bermondsey for the first time.
The weather was perfect as we gathered outside the gallery’s Turbine Hall and remained hot and sunny throughout the afternoon.

Our first talk after leaving Bankside was at Red Cross Gardens, a newly restored community garden, which was originally laid out by the social reformer Octavia Hill in 1887, before we made our way to Long Lane. This was the scene of the battle of Bermondsey, when local residents held a huge anti-fascist demonstration, stopping Mosley’s blackshirts from marching through the area in 1937.