Community
CREATIVE WRITES IN THE COMMUNITY
Creative Writes has facilitated wide-ranging creative writing workshops on a regular basis, from hair salons to community & arts centres, museums, galleries, stations, airports, care homes, social housing and charities (including Blind Aid, Water Aid and the Claremont Project). If you would like to talk to us about providing creative writing workshops for your organisation, please contact Nichola.
Since Creative Writes started in 2009, our community work has included a Creative Partnership Project in a rural Midlands school and Writing Projects which culminated in Scripts & Audio Tours/Installations for Limehouse Town Hall and the Museum of London, Docklands (ScreenDeep).
Nichola has been a Writer in Residence for ‘Stranger Neighbour’ at William Morris & Winns Galleries (Arvon & the drawing shed) and workshop facilitator with Mendham Writers for ‘Hanging Words Out To Dry’ in a launderette (Words Over Waltham Forest Festival). Nichola has facilitated creative writing workshops and spent time as writer in residence at Sutton House (National Trust). We’ve run writing workshops for TFL staff, Lapidus (Words for Wellbeing- National Organisation, U3A (University of the Third Age) and Hillcroft Residential College in Surbiton for their 2017 Creativity Weekend.
Creative Writes also likes working in libraries! Creative Writes Library Workshops have included; City Business Library, Muswell Hill Library, Belsize Community Library and Mayfair Library.
Recent Creative Writes in the Community highlights have included working on an exciting project ‘My Front Door’ with the social housing trust C&C (Central & Cecil) – which was months in the making and included a newspaper, sound pieces and installations at a housing scheme for older people in Maida Vale. Many a happy hour was spent rummaging through the archives of treasure collected over the last 90 years, since the birth of C&C.
Creative Writing Workshops at the Wellcome Collection in London: We were the first to facilitate a workshop of this kind in their Gallery Space for the Misbehaving Bodies: Jo Spense and Oreet Ashery exhibition.
Here are some thoughts from a member of the public who attended the Wellcome Workshops with her daughter:
“Your writing workshop was an integral part of the exhibition and provided the perfect platform for individuals to express not only their immediate responses to such a provoking and confrontational exhibition but to engage safely with their past, pain and wellbeing. For E, this exercise was a great facilitator in connecting her academic writing skills to her personal experience and feelings. She demonstrated such bravery yesterday as a result of feeling safe in your environment.”
In 2019, Nichola worked closely with Alison Teader at Arts in Care Homes/NAPA to deliver a series of Creative Writing and poetry reading sessions for staff teams in Care Homes across the UK, in the months leading up to the first National Day of the Arts in Care Homes on 24 September 2019. The training and resources fed into our Only Connect resource pack, which was also launched at the conference in Birmingham, where Nichola facilitated a poetry training session. Here’s to many more days of the Arts in Care Homes!
Only Connect Resource Pack is available to download here: https://artsincarehomes.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/onlyconnectresourcepack.pdf
Nichola was honoured to be part of the first National Memory Day in 2017, where she facilitated poetry reading sessions at a Day Centre and Memory Café for people with dementia and their carers.
“It was a real pleasure to see Nichola at work. Her patience with our client group enabled her to skilfully encourage their participation which ensured a productive and very enjoyable session for us all.
N.Fishman – Age UK Bromley & Greenwich, Community Development Worker for the Bromley Dementia Support Hub – Memory Day 2017 Poetry Workshops for ‘The Bromley Dementia Support Hub’.
Nichola devised and facilitated regular creative writing & poetry reading workshops for the social housing provider C&C (Central & Cecil) and played a key role in creative projects 2014 – 2020.
About C&C: “Since Mrs Chesterton founded our organisation over 90 years ago to provide refuge to homeless young women, we have continued to offer inspirational, person-centered care and support to vulnerable people…”
“Our residents were new to creative writing before starting sessions with Nichola. Now they are all eager to try new things, proud to share their work and all write in between sessions – nothing can stop them! This is testament to the rapport and sense of trust Nichola has built with them, instilling confidence and proving that you can learn a new creative skill at any age.” – R.D (C&C Staff Member – Creative Arts team).
Comments from participants at the creative writing workshops – Museum of London Docklands Audio Project for ScreenDeep:
“We didn’t know what was involved and I have enjoyed the experience.” J.R- Participant at Museum of London Docklands (for ScreenDeep) Creative Writing Workshops
“It brought back a lot of memories. Things I had forgotten about. I enjoyed it all.” D.G – Participant at Museum of London Creative Writing Workshops (for ScreenDeep)
Comments from the staff at the Claremont Project Creative Writing Group in Angel: where Nichola works with older adults:
“Claremont is about people having opportunities to shine and live happier, healthier and connected lives. Claremont is all about people mattering.”
“Thank you so much for all the great creativity you inspire… The members absolutely adore being challenged and having fun in your class.” – A.T.
“Your class is so popular and that’s really a testament to you who brings brilliance, knowledge and spark to your classes!” B.F.
“Your class always seems so much fun – both the activities you set and the way members talk about it – it’s so lovely to hear.” C.W.
We would be delighted to talk to you about delivering creative writing workshops – Please contact us here.