Posted on: 30 June 2021
To feel beautiful is a feeling all of us deserve to experience, it affirms who we are as a person is someone that is good, accepted and loveable.
Sometimes people in mental health hospitals or services can lose their own sense of beauty and see themselves in a negative way.
Having a mental illness does not reflect badly on someone’s character and people with a mental illness should be reminded of how beautiful they are.
For someone to see their own beauty, allowing it to shine, involves building confidence and there’s a project on Shannon Ward at St Charles Mental Health Hospital that does just that.
Cate Latto, founder of the One Community Project, which curates a range of creative groups including gardening, drama and the arts had struck up a friendship when she met Tash Devedlaka some years ago while walking their dogs.
Tash is a successful make-up artist working in the entertainment industry but she really has passion for working with patients on mental health wards.
Tash said, “My mum has bipolar and addiction issues, and has been in and out of hospital. I knew that when my mum was in hospital she liked it when someone did her nails or her hair. For a long time, I’ve wanted to help patients feel good and give them that same feeling my mum felt when someone did her hair in hospital.”
Over time they opened up to each other about their careers and came up with the idea of a beauty group that would bring patients and staff together over self-esteem building, makeup, hair, chat, music and fun with Tash's professional touch.
Cate was recruiting volunteers to support the wards during the pandemic when she called Tash and asked if she would still like to do this confidence building beauty group. Tash jumped at it and after talking with Shannon Ward patients this project was finally given it’s name - Beautiful People.
When Beautiful People started on Shannon Ward it was an instant hit and has had a huge impact on patients as well as staff. It’s been a highlight of recovery for many.
Since the beginning the patients decided what treatments they wanted and how they wanted to carry out the sessions.
Patients taking the lead on activities on the wards is the One Community way, Cate Latto said, “Patients creating activities and workshops for their fellow patients builds such a fantastic community atmosphere. They tell me what they want and I deliver it, we work together to create it - which is the exciting part. I wouldn’t have it any other way. We know we are getting it right and changing lives together”
During a Beautiful People session there is relaxing music playing and aromatherapy oil diffusers are put on to create a relaxing atmosphere. Patients can choose what they would like, make-up, hair styling, manicures or a new set a false eyelashes.
During this time the beauty professionals, patients and staff all sit together and chat while the makeovers are happening.
Beautiful People allows patients to re-connect with themselves after such a long time struggling with their mental illness, it’s not just about the make-up or the new hair styles. The group is a helping hand which says this is who you are, these are your beautiful qualities and you can share them with the world.
Shannon Ward Manager Cassandra Balisson said, “When patients are in a Beautiful People session it puts them in a different head space; they’re chatting, laughing, trying out new hair styles and nail colours – it’s like they’re not in hospital. They just have this new-found confidence.”
Cate Latto said, “These makeovers are lifesaving because it allows patients to find themselves, be more engaged with treatment and the community. It’s noticeable how different the patients feel after attending Beautiful People. Patients see their self-worth, they take pride in their talents and want to start sharing them by volunteering to help run One Community Projects. Every patient who comes is already beautiful, but when they leave we are not the only ones who see their beauty, they see it too.”
A patient spoke about what Beautiful People means to her:
“Beautiful People is an amazing project; it helped me rediscover myself after a difficult time. I have put myself forward to do more with Beautiful People as it’s been such a great leap in healing, and is done well to a high standard which is key in recovery and also given me things to look forward to doing when I’m out of hospital.”
Tash said, “Working with patients has been rewarding because I can see my mum in a lot of them, and I feel a lot of compassion for them. It’s actually been quite an emotional experience. Just seeing patients blossom and grow in confidence is inspiring. Now patients really get involved and do make-up on each other.”
Beautiful People has been so successful in improving patients’ wellbeing it is expanding across more wards at St Charles Hospital.
Beautiful People has been a wonderful source of support for many, when patients leave hospital they’ve said saying goodbye to Beautiful People is really difficult. Patients have often asked if there is a way to reconnect outside of hospital.
Starting in July, Beautiful People will be taking part in One Community at Bay 20, which will bring every One Community project into the community. Knitting, painting, gardening, Beautiful People and many more will all be taking place at Bay 20 Community Centre and patients can pop in and take part. Details will be announced soon, follow @1CommunityCNWL on twitter for updates.
Having One Community projects open to patients out of hospital is an innovative way of trying to reduce relapses by letting patients know they are not alone, always supported, cared for and thought of by the community they have and can continue to rely on.
An artist called Fin Dac was working on a mural on the side of Shannon Ward with Nick Rhodes and Stephen Barnham of the Nigthingale project. Cate introduced them to patients attending the Beautiful people. Fin was so inspired by the project and the patients journey that he incorporated references of the makeup palette and brush to commemorate this life changing project. With the help of patient drawings, the mural represents how a person can blossom when they get the chance to build the confidence that will allow them to share who they are inside.
Fin Dac said, “My favourite bit is the flowers designed by the patients, of course. All colour detail was deliberately removed from the lower part so that the patients colourful additions act as a metaphor for them injecting colour into their own lives and for all the other colour and beauty to spring from that. The lower tassel that leads directly to the makeup compact - a redesigned basketball hoop and backboard, is again intended as a metaphor, highlighting the way the weekly beautification day leads to the patients feeling better about themselves and how such a simple thing can lead to other self-improvements.”
