11/05/2026
In celebration of Mental Health Awareness Month, we welcomed our Amore Complex Care clients, teams, health and social care professionals, and special guests, the Mayor of Halton Martha Lloyd Jones, and her Consort, Peter Lloyd Jones, to our two-day event, Art in Mind.
Hosted in collaboration with Art VR, an innovative therapeutic wellbeing tool, the event explored the powerful connection between creativity, self-expression, and wellbeing.
We opened our doors on Tuesday 5th May and our clients and team members came together for a day of creativity and connection. Fortuna Female Society FFS Founder, Laura Bevan, opened the event with a talk on speaking kindly to ourselves, before handing over to her colleague Georgina Ridehalgh, who encouraged everyone to unleash their creativity by producing paintings of trees with positive affirmations. Clients’ artwork was then entered into a competition, with health and social care professionals who attended day two of the event voting for their favourite piece.
Throughout the event, attendees experienced Art VR’s immersive therapeutic activities, including painting, building sandcastles, kite flying, and fishing. Seeing the positive impact on our clients was incredibly moving.
Art VR Founder, Sarah Wilkinson, shared:
“Collaborating with Amore Complex Care for the Art in Mind event has been truly meaningful. Together, we’re using creativity to open conversations around mental health in our community. Seeing a non-verbal client completely relaxed and immersed in Art VR, with Support Workers saying they’d never witnessed anything like it before, genuinely moved me to tears. These are the moments that remind me why we do this, because impact like this is priceless, and no amount of money can replicate it.”
Art VR was previously piloted at Manchester Foundation Trust with more than 50 critical-care staff and found:
· 97% of medical personnel said they would recommend Art VR as a therapeutic aid for patients
· Short sessions led to immediate reductions in heart rate and blood pressure, with most participants reporting they felt calmer afterwards
· Staff described Art VR as a “lifeline” and an essential emotional reset during demanding shifts
On day two, Peter Lloyd Jones shared that the kite-flying VR experience brought back wonderful childhood memories, while Martha Lloyd Jones commented:
“I found it very interesting. I’m sure children and adults would really enjoy it.”
Our guests also attended a wellbeing session led by An Hour for Others founder Kevin Morland, exploring the brain’s fight or flight response and ways to support mental wellbeing, before finishing with a guided hypnotherapy session that left the room feeling calm, reflective, and relaxed.
Our Amore Group Managing Director, Ian McDougall, summed the event up perfectly:
“Seeing our clients, teams and community come together to celebrate creativity and the role it plays in our collective wellbeing brings me enormous pride. We are committed to prioritising mental health and promoting wellbeing for both our clients and the teams who support them. Our goal has always been to help our clients live their best lives through community engagement, hobbies and self-expression, and this event is just one example of how we bring that to life.”
