Background
Abby is a single mum of two young children who was feeling isolated and under-supported.
She felt overwhelmed by doing everything on her own after having to start afresh with no support to rely on and her mental health and confidence were extremely low. Her young children would often break things and draw on the walls and she felt she was in a losing battle trying to keep up with the destruction they caused. Through the Families Here and Now Service (FHANS), her Barnardos worker was supporting Abby to create routine and structure for the children to help settle the destructive behavior.
She had been in her flat for a couple of years but had never felt settled and didn’t know where to begin with making it a home for her and her children. It was difficult for Abby to see her flat as her family’s forever home, so she didn’t see the purpose in decorating or making it feel homely. As a result, her flat was very bare with little furniture.
It was identified that Abby would benefit from further support through FHANS by engaging with Make It Your Own (MIYO), Impact Arts’ longstanding tenancy sustainment and creative interior design project designed to support people who have been or are at risk of homelessness.
The team supporting Abby felt this programme would help boost her self-confidence and support her in creating a comfortable home for her and her family in the hope that they would all feel happier and more settled.
Progress
When she first joined MIYO, Abby’s confidence and trust in others was extremely low and she did not know where to begin with making her house a home for her family.
The Impact Arts Interior Designer and Wellbeing Support Worker initially supported Abby by creating a moodboard with ideas of what a home should feel like and look like to her. By breaking this down into achievable goals and working with Abby through weekly 1-1 sessions over a duration of 12 weeks, Abby relaxed very quickly and started to thoroughly enjoy and engage in the sessions.
She learned new skills such as: sewing, upcycling furniture, hanging mirrors, and creating her own artwork. Abby set herself the task of taking up a pair of curtains which had always bothered her, and making a pillow on the sewing machine.
After feeling a sense of achievement and pride in completing these tasks, Abby set herself more creative goals, such as painting the living room and creating more art.
The MIYO team could see that Abby’s newfound creativity was having an incredibly positive effect on her mental health. They noticed an enormous difference not only in self-confidence but in her excitement for making plans for her home. She now feels excited about creating a homely environment.
Future plans
The MIYO team went back to visit Abby’s home after a couple of weeks break and were delighted to see a complete transformation in her family home.
It felt so homely and comfortable and Abby was so proud of her home and the compliments she had received from people. She was excited to share her plans including where she was planning to put shelves and family photos. She had picked out a side table, coffee table, and rug to finish off her living room on her own and it looked wonderful. One of the things that arose in the first few sessions was that Abby felt like she didn’t know what she liked. Since she always had donated, second-hand furniture and never had the opportunity to choose her own pieces, she didn’t feel she had her own sense of personal style or taste.
Working with the MIYO team and making the mood board really developed her confidence and self-belief, and gave her the tools to make these changes in her home. Since she now loves being creative and having a weekly activity to look forward to, Abby is going to join the group sessions with MIYO.
Through gaining so much confidence and practical knowledge through the MIYO 1:1 home visit workshops, Abby has now independently moved onto decorating her children’s bedroom since completing her living room. Her house now feels like a home.
