ART has the power to make you feel good, and those benefits are available in the centre of Woking at the Lightbox.

The award-winning museum and gallery is launching a new focus on mental wellbeing, for participants in its many specialised workshops, as well as casual and regular visitors.

Residents of Woking and beyond are also being offered a new category of annual membership, where they can bring along a guest for the regular and special exhibitions.

The new focus, in a three to five-year plan, begins this week to coincide with the autumn/winter exhibition Scottish Colourists, which opened on Saturday (7 September).

Cordelia Wren, the Lightbox’s development manager, said the gallery and museum had long been involved in community activities with Art in Mind, a specialist workshop for people with early onset dementia starting in 2012.

Cordelia said there were other outreach programmes, such as Art and Craft for Wellbeing, which was run for Woking hospice.

Day passes will cost £7.50 with an option to add a £1 donation. Individual membership will be £30 with £40 for the “plus one guest” option. Joint membership is £50 with £60 for the “plus” option. This means that two joint members can each bring along a separate guest for £2.50 a month each.

There is a time-limited offer of a £5 discount on all membership categories.

The Lightbox is still free to enter with no cost for the downstairs and mezzanine exhibits. Lightbox Lates will also continue with free entry to all galleries on the last Thursday every month after 5.30pm.

For the full story get the 5 September edition of the News & Mail