Community Projects
Making with willow is a very therapeutic process and making in general has been shown to help with mental health and wellbeing.
I have worked with community groups and projects such as Start in Salford, the Oasis Centre in Gorton and High Peak Community Arts
Willow Mad Hatter’s Tea Party Sculptures made with High Peak Community Arts
We made wonderful willow sculptures of Alice, The Mad Hatter, The March Hare, a Teapot and Dormouse – all for our 40th Anniversary Tea Parties this summer – and then a permanent home in the gardens of Primrose Court (sheltered housing in Hayfield).
Projects made with users of Start In Salford
This was a weekly drop in session run with users of Start. The subject matter was very much led by them, I was just there to guide! The idea was that the participants would just lose themselves in the therapeutic process of willow weaving with no pressure to produce a specific sculpture.
Workshop provided for the Oasis Centre in Gorton
The mission of Oasis is to provide the unconditional love, care and support required to enable people in the community to overcome the deprivation around them, and to live peaceful, productive and fulfilled lives. They provide an essential 'first rung on the ladder' for those who are hardest to reach; people whose lives are characterised by crisis, loneliness and despair. They enable people to address the often complex issues behind their immediate needs, with compassion and respect.
Since 2018, Great Northern Events, who run Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, have partnered with the Oasis Centre in Gorton, East Manchester to facilitate outreach work, taking free and accessible craft workshops, led by GNCCF exhibitors, to benefit the disadvantaged people who use their service.
