Peer Facilitated Art and Craft Project

UPDATE – we are now very near capacity for this project. A few spaces have been provisionally allocated to people who hopefully know who they are who are just needing a little bit longer to decide if they want to take part or to clarify if they wish to join in. If you are one of those people then message Ben at benwickens55@gmail.com and he can send you a link to pay the deposit/contribution, if you are not one of those people then still email Ben but you will get added to the waiting list. It is likely that some of the reserved spaces will not be taken so there is still a good chance of you being able to receive a box and fully participate. We will look for ways for people who missed out on getting a box joining in for some of the sessions too so watch this space!

In October and November we will be running some peer facilitated art and craft sessions. These sessions will taken place via Zoom and will involve people sharing art and crafts activities they enjoy, and doing some arts and craft activities together, then sharing our creations with each other.  Everyone involved will receive a box full of resources that will be used during some of the sessions but also give them resources for additional projects.

Activities could include knitting, crochet, macramé, mosaics, soap making, candle making, cross stitch, paper cutting and much more besides.

To receive a craft box you do not need to commit to attending every session but we do expect you to try to make multiple sessions. You also need to pay a non-refundable deposit of £5 which will go towards the cost of the boxes.  If you really want to join in though and are not able to pay the £5 then do email us at smeg2244@yahoo.co.uk as we might be able to waive the £5 in a few cases. We do not want anyone to be excluded on the basis of cost.

We expect to spend about £20 per box with resources for 5-12 different crafts depending on what activities are chosen.  Spaces are limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis in terms of who has paid their deposits.  We probably need to start ordering materials in late August/early September so even if there are spaces still available, latecomers may have less chance to influence what art and crafts are chosen.

We want these boxes when people receive them to be full of fun opportunities that will be a nice surprise to look forward to. 

Session dates will be 11th October and 25th October, 8th & 22nd November and 6th December and will start at 7.30pm.  Sessions will be for 90 minutes but structured so those that can only cope with shorter meetings can have easy points to join in and leave during the sessions.  Wherever arts and crafts are shown in the sessions these will be recorded so that those not able to make a session can still see how to do it.

Everyone is welcome and you do not need to be a member of Stockport ME Group.   If you are not a member of Stockport ME Group though you do need to reside in Greater Manchester to be involved.

Once people have paid their deposits they will be sent a questionnaire so that they can have some input on which arts and crafts are done during sessions and included in the craft boxes. 

This project is run by people with Long Covid and ME/CFS for people with Long Covid & ME/CFS and related conditions. It is made possible through a grant from Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership administered by GMCVO as well as top up funding and resources from Stockport ME Group.

Update 12th September
We have now provisionally allocated what arts & crafts will take place on which session and most of what will be included in the boxes. We have also ordered about 60% of what will be in the boxes and are working on ordering the remaining items over the next 2 weeks. We will then work on assembling the boxes so that they will be ready for collection and delivery from near the end of the month. We have 25 people who are receiving boxes. We will provide lists of what is due to take place in each session so that anyone who doesn’t have a box and wants to participate should be able to do so.

In addition to purchased items we are also able to include in the boxes items given by the community so several of our members have contributed materials, as have a few wider members of the community including Gatley Knitwits.

Update 20th September
Everything is ordered now and most items have already arrived. Once everything is together the boxes will be collated, sorted and posted out…Probably posting boxes will start c. 27th. If you want to collect your box from Edgeley then let Ben know otherwise we will be looking at hand delivering most of the Stockport boxes and posting most of the rest out.