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Survivors' Poetry was established in 1991 by four major poets who had first‐hand experience of the mental health system. The current CEO of Survivors' Poetry, Simon Jenner, describes the national charity's main aim as promoting poetry and associated literary arts ‘by and for survivors of mental distress’ and to play a part in enabling recovery. There is an array of oppportunities available to publish new poetry and prose, attend workshops, perform at public readings, join the National Mentoring Scheme and a moderated online community of writers and artists.Even today, the overwhelming majority of staff, volunteer workers, advisors and trustees come from a survivor background. As such, Survivors' Poetry is in a unique position to support people who seek emotional and mental stability through imaginatively expressed language transformed from traumatic experiences. Survivors' Poetry actively supports and promotes the linguistic talent that many survivors bring from insight into their own circumstances and those of others.

Creative arts activities can be immensely valuable in enabling those of us living with or recovering from mental distress to express and interpret our experience, rebuild confidence and develop new skills. There is now a wealth of innovative arts and mental health projects around to inspire us, and a number of them profile their activities below.

Veterans of the user‐survivor movement, Peter Campbell and Andrew Roberts, profile the Survivors' History Group, a network of approximately 100 members across the UK and Ireland, who believe that the history of individual and collective action by service users/survivors is both interesting and important, and worthy of preservation.

There are many initiatives — by organisations and by individuals — across the UK displaying imagination in responding to mental distress. Many of us want to be enthused through awareness of this richness. This regular ‘Network’ section is a small attempt to increase opportunities to learn and be inspired by each other.In each issue, part of this section will give some brief information on contacts and ideas relating to a particular theme. The first theme is ‘Arts, creativity and mental health’. Future themes include Leisure, Employment, Support and European Partnerships.The success of the Network section will to a large extent depend on our readers. If you involved in, or know of, something which you think will be of interest to others, then do send us brief details. If it seems particularly exciting, then we may contact you and ask whether you would do a larger piece for the journal.

Many day centres run creative writing groups as a therapeutic exercise. Sadly, few of the staff involved have thought through how participants could make the transition from writing for therapy to participating in the wider community as a person who loves reading and writing. People who have used mental health services could utilise their writing as a means to develop contact and build friendship with people in the wider community who have had no prior contact with mental health services. Here is a collection of ideas about how that transition could be made.

Formed in Bristol in 1997, the Stepping Out Theatre Company has produced a wide range of work on mental health themes and is open to people who have used mental health services and their allies. Development worker Steve Hennessy describes how the group developed, its unique ethos, and some lessons it may have to offer those working in the wider field of the arts and mental health.