Euan Macleod, Chair of OutPost Arts
The Arts have always been of significant societal value providing a way of communicating values, ideas and philosophy. They have been central to work within mental health care evidenced by their use in the early days of Crichton Royal Hospital under the leadership of Dr Browne, where he established a newsletter called “New Moon” which provided a vehicle for patients to express themselves using art, poetry and drama. The ability of the arts to help people continues and organisations like OPA pay a key role in this. As a mental health nurse and someone who enjoyed art and always tinkering with woodworking, painting and writing blogs and poems I was attracted to the work of OPA
I was particularly inspired by the people who were OPA and how they saw the value in what they were doing, of particular interest was the work in supporting people experiencing difficulties with their mental health. A few discussions with Lucy Bell Director of OPA led me to becoming a trustee and now chair of OPA.
What I have learned in this time is organisations like OPA working in that third sector voluntary space contribute significantly to people’s wellbeing, but running an organisation dependent on finding funding from a variety of sources is a challenging task. However, the tenacity and creativity of the people who are OPA and their desire to help people helps to drive that reason for existing. Sometimes the best reward is not money but having a purpose and contributing to the greater good. Being a trustee has provided an opportunity to work with like-minded people and see the positive outcomes that have been achieved in people’s lives.