WORKSHOPS
For over four years, Becky has worked independently and in conjunction with other artists to facilitate creative writing and combined arts workshops with a wide variety of community groups and schools. Her experience includes facilitation of drama and performance workshops and editing and compiling material for publications.
Sessions are tailored to organisations’ requirements, held in an open and supportive environment and are often themed. Becky creates a warm yet challenging environment for her participants. She uses a variety of techniques and stimuli to provoke written responses from participants. These include literature, discussion, visual art works, objects, exercises, games, guided visualisations, cut-outs, photographs and music.
Becky was trained in community arts by Artlink West Yorkshire in 2003, in Child Protection in 2007 and is qualified to deliver The Bronze and Silver Arts Awards.
The thinking behind Becky’s work:
‘Creativity and playing are intrinsic to us as human beings. As children, we use our imaginations instinctively. Yet in this stressful and technological era, our imagination is a part of ourselves which is often lost long before we reach adulthood.
I run creative writing workshops with the primary aim of reviving the imaginary lives of those I work with. I work on the philosophy that creative writing is something to be explored not taught. I aim to facilitate sessions as opposed to teach them in a traditional sense, to allow people a little space to play because through play we move closer to realising our full potential, through play we learn to become more ourselves’ – Becky Cherriman.
If you are interested in discussing how Becky could work with your organisation or school, please call her at 07792266816 or email her at write@beckycherriman.com
CURRENT AND FORTHCOMING PROJECTS
Becky teaches creative writing courses for the WEA at Osmondthorpe Resource Centre and Headingley Community Centre for 30 weeks per year.
She is currently working with African widows in Burley on a creative writing, textiles and digital art project in conjunction with Artlink and two other artists. The group are producing a banner compiled of images and text based on the themes of strength, faith and joy.
Signposts has contracted Becky to work with the Barnsley Black and Ethnic Minority Initiative to deliver a creative writing workshop for people from divergent cultural backgrounds during the summer.
Becky is setting up a private creative writing course for adults, which will begin in September and last for 8 weeks with a view to establishing something longer term. The course will be held in Roundhay, Leeds and will cover various aspects of writing including poetry, fiction and autobiographical writing - though topics will be negotiated with the group. There will be an opportunity during each session for participants to receive feedback on their work. Workshops will be held on a Thursday afternoon between 1.30 and 3.30 pm. The total cost of the course is £64.
If you are interested in discussing how Becky could work with your organisation or school or want to book a place on Becky’s private course, please call her at 07792266816 or email her at write@beckycherriman.com
PAST PROJECTS
- Becky’s training at Artlink involved practical advice on being self-employed as well as talks and role-play on working with different community groups. During her placement, she supported a creative writer in working with Pontefract Penpushers, a group of writers who are also mental health service users.
- In February 2003, Becky facilitated a video project and made a film with tenants from Canopy, a housing project for young people, about objects that they found inspiring.
- In August 2003, she volunteered for three sessions at Leeds City Art Gallery where she supported a creative writer in working with a group of women from Shire View, who have visual impairments or are blind, around sculpture.
- In November 2003, Artlink employed Becky to work with a group of people with learning differences in a three-day project around the themes of sleep and dreams.
- From June 2004 to July 2004, Becky worked on a combined arts project with women from Shire View. Through scribing work and audio recording, she helped the women create a patchwork of poetry and reminiscence prose to complement the embroidered patchwork and the video which were the other focuses of the project.
- From October 2004 to April 2005, Becky facilitated themed creative writing workshops with Pontefract Penpushers using various techniques and stimuli.
- In 2004 and 2005, Becky was part of a high profile project called ‘Kids at Uni’ which is based at Leeds Metropolitan University. She worked with Rommi Smith and John Duffy around the theme of superheroes to encourage 9-10 year olds from inner city schools to think outside their everyday experience and to explore their aspirations for the future.
- In 2005, Becky facilitated a series of drop-in workshops to help generate and compile material for a publication at Lifeforce Productions - a music project working with young people who are unemployed - around the themes of music, identity, crime and Leeds.
- Between July 2004 and March 2005, she facilitated creative writing workshops on a variety of themes with a group of young people who had recently arrived to the UK at Ebor Health Matters. Participants performed their work as part of the Breeze Festival.
- From September-October 2005, Becky worked in conjunction with visual artist Sally Ann Willow, Artlink and the Assertive Outreach team on a combined arts and creative writing project with adults with mental health issues.
- In 2005, Becky facilitated three workshops for Shelter's 'End Child Poverty' campaign with Tracker and Word Play. Three poems by her participants were selected to be included in the anthology Waiting For the Future.
- In January 2006, Becky worked with Leeds City Council and young Gypsies and Travellers at Leeds GATE to produce a group poem and individual pieces, which they read at Leeds Town Hall on Holocaust Memorial Day.
- From December 2005 - March 2006, Becky facilitated creative writing workshops with women's groups from South Leeds on the themes of fashion and heritage for a LCC Arts and Regeneration booklet.
- In 2004, Becky set up Word Play, a project for 7-11 year-olds that ran during school holidays until Christmas 2006. Sessions consisted primarily of creative writing and discussion spiced with dashes of drama and drawing. Participants visited other planets, contributed to a group poem about child poverty which was published in the Shelter book, wrote postcards from the grave, scribed stories about the future and penned acrostics about themselves. Becky is now looking into setting up an after school Word Play one day a week.
- In 2005-6 Becky worked as Story Writing Facilitator for Scope in Liverpool. In the Picture is a project which seeks to go some way to addressing the omission of disabled people in children’s literature. Becky worked with families and carers of disabled children to help them write children’s stories which include disabled children. Please check out the website http://www.childreninthepicture.org.uk/ to find out more.
- From May 2004-December 2005, Becky facilitated drama workshops with adults with learning differences at Ripon Community Link. Participants played drama games, created scenes from soap operas and devised a performance based on their achievements.
- In the spring and summer of 2006, Becky worked in conjunction with Artlink and a ceramicist to help adults with physical impairments to produce a mural based on the sea for the Howland Centre.
- During July and August 2006, Becky worked in conjunction with Lifeforce, ISSP and a select team of artists with a group of young people who had offended. She, and the other artists helped 7 of the group attain their Bronze Arts Award in music, film and creative writing. The celebration event was held at The Hi-fi Club in Leeds.
- In 2006, Becky worked in conjunction with Barney George, Artlink West Yorkshire and Dr Barnardos to deliver a project to young women leaving care. The women produced a group rap, and wrote pieces and took photographs based on their hopes for the future. The end product was a film which was shown at the ‘This is not a Suitcase’ conference at London’s Tate Gallery.
- January-April 2007 saw Becky facilitating a creative writing project for adults with Autism around ten Leonardo da Vinci sketches for Leeds City Art Gallery at Mabgate Resource Centre. Participants created pictograms and mirror writing. She assisted Simon Bradley in selecting material for his film ‘Cows Go Roar’ which was inspired by the project.
- Becky has also run several one-day workshops including a session with an emotional health group, drop-in workshops at festivals, and a voluntary sector conference.
Work produced during Becky’s workshops has been performed at Breeze Festival and Holocaust Memorial Day 2006 and published in One Thing Leeds to Another (Lifeforce Productions, 2005) Waiting for the Future (Shelter, 2006) and online at the Scope site http://www.childreninthepicture.org.uk/
Organisations and schools Becky has worked with include Artlink West Yorkshire, Leeds City Art Gallery, Shire View, Scope, CASAC, Leeds City Council, GATE, Burley Lodge Centre, Shelter, Ripon Community Link, Yorkshire Art Circus, Canopy, Education Leeds, A Child’s Place, Lifeforce Productions, Ebor Health Matters. Bracken Edge Primary, Hillcrest Primary, Moortown Primary, Agnes Stewart, Outwood Grange College, Rossington Hall School, Humber Mouth Literature Festival.
Groups she has worked with include 9-10 year-olds from inner city schools, Key Stage 2, 3 and 4 children, young travellers, young women leaving care, adults with learning difficulties, adults with mental health issues, women, adults with physical impairments, homeless people, ex drug users, unemployed people, blind women and women with visual impairments, voluntary sector and mental health workers, writers, young refugees and asylum seekers, parents and carers of disabled children.
If you are interested in discussing how Becky could work with your organisation or school, please call her at 07792266816 or email her at write@beckycherriman.com