[Above left] The first of the two tapestries comprising ‘Community Mal-flourishing – who decides?’ applies the approach of Rachel’s ‘Personal Mal-flourishing’ tapestry to one way in which areas of deprivation are commonly represented in Scotland: through the Scottish Indices of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD).

The SIMD looks at the extent to which an area is deprived in seven different ways: income, employment, education, health, access to services, crime and housing. Red hues indicated higher deprivation, and blue hues lower deprivation.

The area of Restalrig, Lochend and Craigentinny has three data zones in the top 5% most deprived, four in the top 10%, and eight in the top 20%.

But how far can this represent what it is like to live in the area?

[Above right] The final tapestry was co-created by Rachel and a group of community members, and shows how they experience their local community as compared to the ‘official’ measures of SIMD.

The group didn’t dismiss the more challenging elements of where they live, with the background formed of black bin bags – which represent depression, drabness and neglect in the area – and white bin bags – which represent a lack of community and leisure spaces.

But against this backdrop, the swirl – or ripple – of colours in the foreground show the human connections and spirit of the community. This tapestry contains hope and positivity alongside struggles, contrasting sharply with the SIMD tapestry’s unrelenting bleakness.