Pioneering mental health partnership goes from strength to strength

2025 is turning into a landmark year for Converge, the partnership between York St John University and mental health service providers that offers educational opportunities to adults who use mental health services.   

Now celebrating its 17th year, Converge has: 

• won the Educate North Award for Community Engagement for the first time 

• welcomed its largest intake of Converge students to date 

• supported the creation of a version of Converge on the east coast of Australia, and 

• launched a creative collaboration bringing people from York and Knaresborough together through travel and learning. 

To celebrate these achievements – and with more to come (including the first level 4 Converge course to be accredited by York St John University) - Converge has also unveiled its new logo, to reflect the vibrancy and creativity of its work with students and the local community. 
 
Converge was established in 2008 and began with a simple idea - to offer a course in theatre to local people who experienced mental ill health, and to involve York St John University students in the delivery of the course. 
 
Expanding year by year, Converge’s courses have helped its students to develop skills in a supportive educational environment, giving them the freedom to be creative, challenge themselves and discover new abilities.   
 
All the courses are free and most take place on the York St John University campus. They are taught by staff, students and people with particular expertise and their own experience of mental ill health. The courses are also offered online and by post. 
 
Simon Procter, Director of Converge and Professor in the School of the Arts at York St John University, said that the growing number of students year on year reflected the important work and impact Converge was having on bringing people “from the clinic to the campus”. 

“Converge is a creative learning community, encouraging creative and critical thinking, and being based at York St John University is an essential part of that,” said Simon. 
 
“We invite local residents with experience of enduring mental illness onto the campus so that they can become an active part of our creative learning community.  

“We encourage them to try out different areas of study to discover what ignites their enthusiasm and what offers them a meaningful sense of identity development. The aim is not to start people on an academic pathway, but rather to offer learning, creativity and curiosity as foundations for a meaningful process of recovery. 
 
“We had 331 students for 2024 to 2025, most of whom were engaged in multiple courses, an important aspect of making Converge a creative learning community. We ran 58 courses over the academic year – everything from art and design, creative writing, music, theatre and performance, and social science and study skills.” 

Educate North Award 

In March, Converge won the prestigious Educate North Award for Community Engagement, recognising the opportunities that if offers York St John University students to support the Converge community. 
 
The Educate North awards highlight world class achievements across the University, Higher Education, Further Education and Sixth Form sectors in the North of England. 
 
Judges commended Converge for bridging the gap between education and healthcare, reducing barriers to learning while easing pressure on clinical services. 
 
"This was a fantastic result for us and the first time that we have won the award,” said Simon. 
 
“We are called Converge because we are a convergence of the interests of local mental health service users, the interests of York St John University students, and the interests of the University itself.  
 
“By connecting these interests, Converge creates opportunities which are unique and local to York, enabling the University to demonstrate considerable social impact locally as well as leading thinking and practice in this area, nationally and internationally. 

“This award recognises the opportunities we offer to students to engage with their local community.” 

Griffith University and Converge 

Spring 2025 was a landmark moment for Griffith University in Australia, with the launch of Mosaic, their own version of Converge. 
 
Staff members from the Brisbane-based university have visited Converge many times over the years, and Mosaic draws upon those experiences of close, collaborative working. 
 
As a social justice service, Mosaic opens up university-level education to those who often do not have that opportunity. 
 
“We have been growing connections with universities in other countries, who are interested in our work and might wish to start something similar for their own local communities,” said Simon. 
 
“Mosaic is now offering classes in writing, acting and drawing, and offers an exciting opportunity for people living with mental health conditions in Brisbane. All of these map onto our core values.”
 

Orb Arts 

This year Converge has been partnering with Orb Community Arts to create a truly unique learning experience. 
 
Orb Arts is a creative mental health charity based in Knaresborough, supporting people across North Yorkshire to access a wide range of high quality creative and wellbeing activities. 
 
During the 2025 to 2026 academic year, Orb Arts will be working with Converge on a year-long creative collaboration bringing people from York and Knaresborough together. 
 
This will explore the physical and virtual corridors that connect both communities – everything from ancient footpaths, rail, road and communication networks, and green corridors for wildlife. 
 
“This is a brand new initiative for us in 2025 and we’ve already seen the benefits of student exchanges with Orb Arts, including for our summer festival, our creative writing conference and our site-specific theatre workshops,” said Simon. 
 
“The centrepiece will be our ‘Creative Corridor’ from Knaresborough to York, where we will stopping off in various places along the way, and learning about the places, the history and the environment. 
 
“Some of our students don’t get out and about all that much, so we are hoping that this will be a wonderful opportunity to help them feel more comfortable doing so.” 
 

The Converge Evaluation and Research Team (CERT)  

CERT is a friendly group of Converge students who carry out evaluations of mental health related community projects and academic research projects. 

The CERT team is made up of people with lived experience of mental health difficulties, and all group members have trained in research methods at York St John University. 
 
Starting in September, Converge’s Introduction to Community Research Methods course will be validated by York St John University at Level 4, with the award of a certificate.  
 
“This will be the first time that any Converge course has been validated,” said Simon.  
 
“What it means is that students will have the option of working towards a formal award for the first time, should they choose to. 
 
“It also means that in the future we should be able to open it up to non-Converge participants - for example, people from the community partnerships run by our Institute for Social Justice (ISJ), a development that has come about through our partnership with the ISJ.” 

You can learn more about Converge at their Autumn term Open Day on Wednesday 3 September. 
 
This will be between 1.00pm and 4.00pm in Quad South Hall on the York campus.  
 
This will be an opportunity to: 

• meet Converge staff 

• find out more about the courses on offer, and  

• receive support to complete an application form. 

You do not need to sign up to attend. 
 
More details about Converge can be found on the Converge web page.