‘Colour your Life’ is an Arts on Prescription service funded by the NHS which aims to provide free access to artistic and creative activities promoting positive mental health and wellbeing.

Using professional experienced artists ‘Colour your Life’ supports people of all abilities whilst providing opportunities for friendship in a safe welcoming and supportive environment.

The programme is successfully run as a consortium partnership by the Pioneering Care Partership, Leisureworks and Jack Drum Arts who between them run studio and outreach activities throughout County Durham.

The project is an innovative NHS response to the growing number of people presenting with mental health problems in a time of austerity when work is scarce and anxieties high.

There are very strong connections between deprivation and poor health. The County Durham Local Area Agreement talked of ‘a mutually reinforcing link between higher rates of poor health, mental illness and premature death, and low income, economic inactivity, and low levels of education and skills’ (LAA, 2006, 66). County Durham’s Joint strategic Needs Assessment predicts that the number of people with depression in County Durham will rise by nearly 50% in the years leading to 2030. The numbers of people with severe depression are expected to be even higher at nearly 55% increase.