Far Apart UK

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an urgent problem for mental health in young people, especially those living in large cities. Arts organisations in London, Manchester and Cardiff with strong community links play a vital role in promoting mental wellbeing, by engaging young people (aged 16-24) with different art forms and methodologies.

Far Apart UK  focuses on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and its social restrictions and how arts organisations in the UK have adapted their activities by using online platforms and other means to support the mental health of young people.  The study uses mixed methods, combining semi-structured interviews, surveys and artistic workshops.

Each organisation produced a series of five online art workshops for 5 to 10 participants between using the artistic languages and their own methodologies. The workshops addressed how the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic impacted their lives and how they experienced and managed the changes that occurred.

Participants are encouraged to produce and present a play, a performance, a song, a poem, a podcast, etc.

Far Apart UK   hopes to strengthen an existing network of these five community arts organisations in the UK and with organisations that have been part of the same research in Latin America (Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Brazil).