CHOICE - A Project from the Bamford Centre

29/08/2026

🎉 Exciting News: The Choice Project has teamed up with Arts Care! 🎉

At the Choice Project, we know that overcoming isolation and finding genuine connections often starts with a shared activity. That is why we are absolutely thrilled to welcome Arts Care, a leading Northern Ireland organisation dedicated to improving health and wellbeing through the arts, as an official partner!

Whether you want to try something new, share your passion, or just find a welcoming space without any pressure, there are incredible ways to get involved. Through this partnership, our community navigators can connect you to supported, artist-led activities, including:

🎨 Visual Arts: Let your creativity flow in a relaxed, guided environment.
💃 Dance & Movement: Move at your own pace and find joy in physical expression.
✍️ Creative Writing: Put your unique perspective onto paper and share your voice.
🎬 Music, Film & Digital Art: Explore new skills like filmmaking and photography to tell your story your way.

And so much more!

These participatory sessions are designed to encourage individual expression, shared moments of joy, and meaningful community connection.

Arts Care Inspire MindWise Praxis Care

Arts Care is proud to be partnering with CHOICE - A Project from the Bamford Centre , a social prescribing project funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) supporting adults living with severe mental illness to connect with community activities, services and support across Northern Ireland.

CHOICE continues to offer a valuable opportunity for the people we support to reduce isolation, build confidence, and become more connected to their local communities.

Participants receive one-to-one support from a Community Navigator, who helps them find and access activities that are meaningful to them, alongside practical support to get started.

You can email [email protected] or phone 02895367768 if you have any further queries.

Clients/service users can refer themselves, or staff, carers and family members can make a referral on their behalf.

Referral link: https://www.choiceni.org/take-part

22/06/2026

Pop along to this event this Wednesday if you're free, looks amazing.

22/06/2026

A big thank you to staff and service users at MindWise for all your support.

No one should feel alone 💛

This Loneliness Awareness Week (15–21 June), MindWise is proud to support the CHOICE Project, helping people living with severe mental illness reconnect with their communities.

Through social prescribing, partnership working, and lived experience, CHOICE is creating pathways to connection, belonging, and better wellbeing.

To find out more about the CHOICE Project, visit - https://www.ulster.ac.uk/choice/about or www.CHOICENI.org

CHOICE referral form - https://www.choiceni.org/take-part

Anyone who is interested or would like to discuss the project further is welcome to get in touch via [email protected]

17/06/2026

For more information on how to get Free one-on-one support contact us on:

[email protected]

15/06/2026

💬 Feeling Lonely or Isolated? You’re Not Alone.

Around 18% of men in Northern Ireland say they feel lonely or cut off.
CHOICE offers free one‑to‑one support to help men (and women) rebuild confidence, discover new hobbies, join social groups, or get active again.

With over 50 partner organisations and hundreds of opportunities - from sports and arts to community projects - there’s something for everyone.

📧 Email us today to find out how CHOICE can help you reconnect.

Loneliness is common. Connection is powerful. Support changes lives.

[email protected]

06/06/2026

Who says learning has to be boring? Belfast Learning Festival is in full swing this week, and the city is buzzing with free activities. Think relaxation workshops, dance classes, art sessions, woodworking, gardening, and even behind‑the‑scenes tours of iconic spots like Queen’s.

For many people living with mental ill health, loneliness and isolation can creep in. That’s where CHOICE steps in. We work alongside over 50 brilliant organisations to help people reconnect, rediscover their confidence, and try out new hobbies and skills - all with free one‑to‑one support.

If you (or someone you know) has a mental health illness and would love help finding a new interest, learning something fresh, or getting back into an old passion, we’re here for you.

📩 [email protected]

04/06/2026

Try out some of the exciting and fun events being offered during next week's Belfast Learning Festival: cooking, tai-chi, dancing, arts, history, gardening, and even LEGO building! Over 70 free events.

See something you think you would really like to continue, and you have a Mental Health Illness, with one-on-one support from Choice, we can help.

Belfast Learning Festival is our chance to show why Belfast is a UNESCO City of Learning.

The annual celebration of learning brings a week of free events, classes, demonstrations, performances, talks, and workshops to the city. Events are accessible to everyone, whatever your age, talent or experience.

Whether you’re passionate about a particular subject or keen to discover something new, Belfast Learning Festival gives you the opportunity to learn through creating, making, moving, listening and connecting.

From digital development to creative arts, there are opportunities to upskill or reskill for personal or professional growth. No matter your age or stage in life, there are activities taking place in a community centre, museum, library, college or park near you. Events will take place in locations all over the city.

20/05/2026

A huge thank‑you to QUB - School of Psychology for inviting us to speak at their “Psychology & Personality Disorder Managed Care Network – Mental Health Outcomes, Postgraduate Research Symposium.”

We shared how the CHOICE Project supports people living with mental ill health by reducing isolation and loneliness through one‑to‑one support and community reconnection. With our partners offering hundreds of activities - from sports and arts to nature, hobbies, education, and more - there truly is something for everyone.

Carla and Gavin, volunteers from the CHOICE Realism Group, also spoke about their research project exploring the barriers people with mental ill health face in accessing education and further learning. They highlighted the importance of including people with lived experience in research, policy development, and decision‑making to ensure services genuinely meet the needs of those they aim to support.

PS, look how amazing the building is (Graduate Building at Queens)

Inspire MindWise Praxis Care Action Mental Health QUB - School of Psychology Gavin Boyd

15/05/2026

📣 Calling all community groups and organisations across Northern Ireland!

We’re looking for inclusive, welcoming spaces to join CHOICE as community assets.

From art and music to sport, theatre, writing, and heritage, your group could help someone feel more connected in their community.

By joining CHOICE, you’ll:
• Be part of a growing network supporting inclusion
• Help people access community opportunities with confidence
• Be featured on our platform, used by Community Navigators

There’s no cost to take part - just a commitment to being open and inclusive.

👉 Get in touch or sign up today using the link in our bio

Inspire MindWise Praxis Care Action Mental Health Belfast Live

15/05/2026

Our MindWise Community Navigator, Kelly Mitchell, tells us how she's taking action for others' mental health:

Since joining the CHOICE Project, I have been working closely with Ulster University on this research project. Through developing links in Larne, it became apparent that many people living with mental health conditions feel socially isolated.

Following lengthy conversations with my Larne clients about the limited social support available to them, I asked what would make a difference to their lives socially. Their answer was simple: more opportunities and availability for social groups.

This got me thinking… the best way for me to take action for my clients was to support them to develop a social support group in Larne, which could meet monthly to begin with and increase this as demand increases.

As one of the CHOICE community assets, Larne Museum kindly offered our new social group use of their rooms for free, as well as arranging meet and greets, and organising mini tours of the museum.

Taking Action…..This mental health awareness week, three of my Larne clients and I met at Larne Museum on Tuesday, 12th May 2026, to brainstorm ideas together for the new Larne CHOICE Social Group that we are developing and will be delivering in Larne with a start date for the end of June 2026.

MindWise Mental Health Foundation Inspire Praxis Care Action Mental Health Mental Health Matters By Kylie Verzosa Social Prescribing