Thrive LDN Children's Mental Health Week
My Role:
Project Producer, Creative Lead, Facilitator & Wellbeing Practitioner
Founded:
Mayor of London, Greater London Authority, NHS England (London), London Councils, and Transformation Partners in Health and Care
Artforms & Methods:
Creative Writing, Participatory Arts, Storytelling, Arts & Health Practice, Community Facilitation, Creative Wellbeing Workshops
Thrive LDN is a citywide movement to ensure all Londoners have an equal opportunity to good mental health and wellbeing. Supported by the Mayor of London (GLA) and Healthy London Partnerships.
I led a group of 14 Year 6 pupils, over seven weeks through therapeutic, creative arts practices designed to improve mental health and wellbeing. The group poured feelings, thoughts and memories into their work and created pieces that were personal and poignant to them. I drew on my expertise as a poet, play therapist and teacher and facilitated this project so the youngsters would discover just how powerful poetic expression can be when telling the stories that live in us. Thrive LDN gave me complete creative autonomy so we decided to let the young people steer the outcome. I was so impressed with their work, Thrive LDN and I agreed to create eBook and guidance material booklet ( both free to download in the shop) and the pupils performed some of their work on the Thrive LDN Youtube channel
