Headway Nottingham’s Creative Writing Group took to the stage at City Arts, proudly sharing their powerful poetry, prose, and personal reflections alongside performers from the dynamic GOBS Collective.
The event marked a joyful celebration of creativity, confidence, and community in a space where words became tools of recovery, empowerment, and connection. Before the performance began, guests were encouraged to contribute their creative writing through play. Poetry Jenga and Word Picnics were among the highlights of the afternoon.
With standing room only in a room filled with family members and local creatives, our writers took to the stage one by one, accompanied by some pre-recorded performances, to share their work. They were met with rapturous, celebratory applause, and not a dry eye in the house.
The Creative Writing group, comprising individuals supported by Headway Nottingham, meets every Tuesday to explore self-expression through poetry, storytelling, and free writing, and since March, has focused on creating their beautiful anthology, which was showcased on the stage at Nottingham’s City Arts venue.
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How do we navigate the world and our place in it?
It all looks so vast and incomprehensible – like the oceans in it.
Everyone’s life goes at a different time and pace.
What’s most important is how we find our place – in the world.
Maybe it’s only when we find that place…
That everything in our present falls into place.
How we live with everyone else…
Depends on paying attention
to every person’s personal experience of time and space.
When we understand we are all one global race.
Then we will have empathy and a sense of peace and place.
By Liz
Sarah Wheatley, GOBS Shadow Poet Facilitator, said of the project:
“The aim of the project was to further develop their creativity and confidence, by not only crafting a brilliant Anthology of their poems, but also to develop their performance skills, culminating in a showcase of their work at the GOBS Spring Spruce event… Moving Forwards together, a merging of communities, celebrating our differences, recognising our similarities and expressing our unique creativity.
“It has been a huge privilege to be part of this project with Headway Nottingham’s Creative Writing group… Throughout the last ten weeks these writers have worked so hard, we have shared our stories, reflected on our lives and we have had fun, lots of banter and a good laugh too… they have taught me so much more than I could ever imagine, I will always be grateful for the time we spent together on the project.”
Headway Nottingham’s Creative Writers produce fantastic work each week, ably supported by prominent local creative and Lead Artist of Nottingham’s GOBS Collective, Bridie Squires. Working with brain injury in mind, the sessions have added benefits of forming new neural pathways and connections, rebuilding thinking skills like focus, memory, planning, and facilitating healthy emotional expression.
To see more of our Writer’s work, follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
If you or someone you know would benefit from accessing fun, engaging rehabilitation through Creative Writing, get in touch at sayhello@headwaynottingham.org.uk or 0115 9679669, or make a referral here.
