Looking for creative submissions for a new magazine by and for the cancer community.

Yes to Life is combining forces with Artlift, the pioneering Gloucestershire-based Arts on Prescription provider, to produce a new magazine ‘Flourish’ by and for people living with or beyond cancer.

We are looking for submissions of artwork, photography, writing, film and audio for the first pilot edition of Flourish Magazine, which will explore the benefits of an integrative and creative approach to living with cancer, around the theme of Nourish.

Click here to find out more about how to submit work to the magazine.

Deadline: 9th May 2022, 10pm

The Flourish Magazine idea is funded by Big Lottery’s Awards to for All to Artlift and supported by Macmillan Cancer Support and Gloucestershire Health & Care. It has emerged from Artlift’s Flourish Arts on Prescription programme, and Yes to Life’s Stroud-based Wigwam Cancer support group.

Former Flourish participant and Steering Group member Annie Gotts said:

“Using creativity alongside conventional cancer therapies has allowed me to feel like a whole person again, rather than just a patient. I want to help more people in Gloucestershire to share the benefits of incorporating creativity into their lives through the magazine”.

 Philip Booth, who is part of Yes to Life’s Stroud Wigwam Cancer Support Group said: “We hope the magazine will be stunning to look at and inspiring to read. A picture can paint a thousand words – it is such a powerful way of enabling people to help change the conversations around cancer, to tackle taboo topics and share experiences to help people feel less alone. Whether you are someone living with cancer, a family member or cancer professional we are looking for your submissions to this exciting new project.”

If you are interested in contributing creatively or supporting the future sustainability of this much-needed new venture, giving people with cancer and those supporting them a voice, please contact Flourish Magazine’s Editor Natalie Beech at flourish.mag@artlift.org.

Call-out for submissions for Flourish Magazine: a new publication about the cancer experience

Deadline: 9th May 2022, 10pm

Overview

Yes to Life and Artlift are piloting a new magazine by and for people living with and beyond cancer and the professionals who work with them.

We understand that there is no one size fits all when it comes to cancer and want to create a magazine that shares the depth and diversity of the cancer experience.

We are looking for submissions of artwork, photography, writing, film and audio for the pilot edition of Flourish Magazine, which will explore the benefits of an integrative and creative approach to living with cancer, around the theme of Nourish.

Read more about the integrative approach here 

Read more about arts on prescription here

Submissions

Please see the full submission guidance and criteria here before submitting.

All submissions must be sent to flourish.mag@artlift.org by 10pm, 9th May 2022. 

If you have any questions or queries about the submission process, whether you or your submission meets the eligibility criteria, please don’t hesitate to contact Editor-in-Chief Natalie Beech on flourish.mag@artlift.org and she will answer your questions.

Please note:

• This is an unpaid opportunity. Contributors will receive a free copy of the magazine and will be credited appropriately.
• If you are a health and care professional, nutritionist or therapist and would like to be interviewed for the magazine, please contact Editor Natalie Beech on [email].
• We will let all applicants know whether their submission has been selected for the print and/or digital version of the magazine by the 17th May 2022, but unfortunately not be able to offer individual feedback.

Eligibility

We are looking for contributors that meet at least one of the following criteria:

• Living with or beyond cancer
• Living in relation to cancer (i.e. Friend, relative or partner of someone with cancer)
• Cancer health professional
• Cancer activist or campaigner

You do not need to have previous experience as a writer or artist to submit to the magazine.

We are particularly interested in submissions from the Black, Asian and Ethnically Diverse community, Deaf and disabled community, the LGBTQ+ community and those living in the Gloucestershire area.

Editors Notes

About Artlift (www.artlift.org):

• Artlift is a nationally recognised Charitable Incorporated Organisation established in 2013 to provide Arts on Prescription and other Creative Health services and projects.
• Artlift’s vision is a world where anyone facing health challenges can easily find and sustain a new sense of wellbeing through arts engagement.
• Current programmes include:

–       Create Well mental health programme

–       Living Well with Chronic Pain ps programme

–       Flourish programme (for adults living with and beyond cancer)

–       Artlift services: Workplace Wellbeing packages, Artist Residencies

• Artlift’s main investing partners are NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group, Macmillan Cancer Supportand GloW  Gloucestershire Wellbeing.
• Artlift is a member of the Association of Mental Health Providersand Gloucestershire Creative Health Consortium.
• Contact: Cath Wilkins, Executive Director (cath@artlift.org/ 07917 796 959)

About Yes to Life (www.yestolife.org.uk)

• Yes to Life is the UK’s integrative cancer care charity which empowers people with cancer to make informed decisions about their care options.
• Yes to Life’s aim is to provide evidence-based information to help people find out about Integrative Medicine through their website www.yestolife.org.uk, a helpline, blogs, their publications, the Yes to Life Radio show on UK Health Radio, our Wigwam cancer support groups, Peer to Peer support, e-learning for professionals, workshops and conferences.
• The Wigwam Cancer Support Group in Stroud, Gloucestershire it’s an initiative of Yes to Life.
• Contact: Philip Booth, coordinator (philip.booth@yestolife.org.uk/ 020 3222 0587)