Meet 'Creatful'
Using creativity to bring people together to connect, make and manage wellbeing.
I’m Nancy, founder and director of Creatful CIC. I was born in Liverpool and I now live in Waterlooville (Portsmouth). I am a Mother to Aria age 9 and Harvey age 7, making a better world for them is my main driver. I trained as a product designer originally then spent 14 years in the telecommunications industry. I’ve lived with diagnosed mental health illness for around 10 years. Along with medication and therapy, creativity has been critical to my mental health journey and continued recovery.
After a mental health crisis in 2020 I found myself stuck between mental health services. Although I was very poorly and my family were extremely concerned my local mental health crisis services felt I wasn’t sick enough to be supported by them and my local community mental health services felt I was too sick to be treated by them. Fortunately, I was able to pay for my recovery privately. However this had a financial strain, and what happens to those who can’t pay? Once I was well enough I knew I had to do more to help people like me. At the same time and as a part of my recovery I knew I needed to reconnect with my community. Yet I couldn’t find a creative space in my community where I felt like I fit.
This is where the idea for Creatful was born. Creatful is a community interest company, this means we are a not for profit regulated by the community interest regulator.
I have a passion for making sure all people have spaces in their communities where they feel safe and welcomed. I believe we can use creativity to bring people together and empower people to manage their own wellbeing. I believe creativity is an underutilised wellbeing tool that all should have access to.
Creatful brings creativity to all generations and abilities. With our team of 8 volunteers we are able to reach many people in need in our community. From our popular day time Craft and Chat groups to our acrylic paint pouring workshops we have a wide range of flexible offerings to ensure we meet the needs of the people we serve. Our free resources on our website, our facebook group and our craft kits mean we can reach people who can’t join us at our groups.
Through collaborating with other local business and community services we are able to offer unique and exciting events that bring people together to connect and create. We are imaginative and innovative with the services we offer, open to suggestions from the many people we meet in out community. We embrace people from all walks of life encouraging a celebration of our differences. We provide spaces that are safe for people to explore and have fun. Along with all of this we are mindful of our impact, with a focus on re-use, re-purpose and sustainability. We spend time collecting what might be considered ‘waste’ materials within our community and find ways to turn them into activities and products. This helps us to encourage our audience to do the same.
Creatful started as a local art and craft group but it has evolved into so much more than this. We are a community, supporting each other through life’s difficulties and celebrations. We are a network of people who have found their place in their community and want others to do the same.
If you want to find out more about Creatful visit www.creatful.co.uk
*This blog post is provided by the business owner featured – the views and opinions expressed on this blog are not our own.
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