- ‘Dignity in Care’, a project in partnership with Newcastle Elders Council to generate creative writing for the 2008 Healthy Cities Conferences. Sponsored and funded by Healthy Cities and the Quality of Life Partnership, this writing project consisted of participants from Age Concern and the Newcastle Elder’s Council. The aim of the project was to give older people the opportunity to express their ideas regarding the care of older people in an innovative and creative way. The writing produced formed part of the Newcastle Healthy Cities Conference in April 2008. A creative evaluation with service users from Age UK on the Quality of Life Partnership’s Healthy Living Programme.
- Tyneside Rape Crisis Centre A series of writing for health workshops spanning 18 months for survivors of sexual violence living in Gateshead, Newcastle and North Tyneside
- The Shipyards Project. A project based at Wallsend People’s Centre for generating creative writing from local people and their memories of working in the ship building industry in Wallsend.
- The Poe Project. In partnership with Dora Frankel Dance, a dance and creative writing project and performance with students at Gateshead College inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe.
- ‘Their Past Your Future’ an intergenerational writing project around war and conflict project in partnership with South Shields Libraries .
- Care Homes Project. Pen and Tonic was commissioned by West End Befrienders to provide a series of writing for health training workshops for volunteers working in older people’s homes enabling them to use writing for health with older people.
- Longbenton Sure Start Children’s Centre. Writing for health project for young mothers attending the centre. (funded by Grass Roots Community Foundation)
- Newcastle and North Tyneside Carers Centres. Writing for health project for service users attending both centres. (funded by the Northern Rock Foundation)
- ‘Outwrite’ Project. Writing for health project for LGBT people living and/or working in Newcastle (funded by the Scarman Trust.)
- Men’s writing for health project at Crisis Skylight. A series of writing for well being and mental health for men attending Crisis Skylight Newcastle
How it all started
Throughout spring and summer of 2007, Pen and Tonic offered a series of sessions for a group of carers based at the Newcastle Carer’s Centre. Having researched and incorporated writing for health exercises in our teaching and community work, we realised the positive impact that writing for health could have on people’s mental and physical wellbeing. A former carer approached us to run the sessions and participants found them extremely beneficial in decreasing their stress levels and building their confidence. This success gave us the idea to set up Pen and Tonic; an organisation dedicated to widening the use of writing for health within communities.In the Autumn of 2007, Pen and Tonic was awarded funding from Awards for All to run a pilot project aimed at community and health workers. The aim of the project was to cascade writing for health facilitation skills to people interested in using writing for health with the people they work with. The project was highly successful, attracting people from a variety of professions within the health and community sectors.
