Workshops on poetry help with mental health

PLYMOUTH people with with mental health challenges have taken part in a series of poetry workshops designed to find out if creative writing can help improve how they feel day-to-day.

- WILLIAM TELFORD

City poet Melisande Fitzsimons ran 10 two-hour Writing for Wellbeing workshops at the Sherwell United Church Centre, funded by University of Plymouth.

The sessions were free of charge and open to anyone referred by city charity The Wolseley Trust, or who simply self-referred themselves.

Participants aimed to improve their mental health through writing poetry, short stories or journaling.

"I found the workshops very helpful," said one participant. "I find it difficult to relate a lot of my trauma through words, so writing has been a good way to express them."

The weekly workshops involved writing on a variety of topics, not specifically about trauma but instead to engage people with positive feelings and techniques that might help process difficult times they have experienced.

Funding came from government-backed research grants which the University of Plymouth successfully applied for, part of its ongoing work on social prescription, a way of helping people improve mental health through activities, such as arts, writing, and crafts.