Through a grant from ‘The National Lottery Community Fund’ facilitated by ‘Wellspring West Sussex’ and Cara Lambert , Team Manager Families & Wellbeing, Library Service WSCC, I’ve been able to provide my poetry Workshops to children and young people with disabilities in a wide range of different settings across West Sussex.
Poetry is a wonderful vehicle for expression enabling participants to communicate and express themselves in the way that’s right for them, as well as experiencing working together in a multi –media, multi-sensory setting.
In addition to the written, spoken or printed word and sound, I use fabrics, musical instruments, light and ‘props’ for participants to create their own interpretations of poetry in its broadest sense.
Venues have included Libraries and Schools, working with young children as well as teenagers, unrolling a broad sweep of opportunities.
| Detail | Theme | Average Number of Children |
| Worthing Library Feb. 2nd | Bats, Echoes & Aliens | 20 |
| Worthing Library March 2nd | Pirates, Jellyfish, Mermaid & Fish | 20 |
| Manor Green College Feb. 27th | Looney Tunes, Super Heroes & Puppets | 15 |
| Manor Green College Mar. 6th | Under The Sea & The Jungle | 15 |
| Durrington Library Mar. 28th | Journey into Space! | 15 |
| Durrington Library April 4th | Super Heroes! | 15 |
| Lyminster Primary April 25th | Circus Circus! | 35 |
| Lyminster Primary May 10th | Circus Circus! | 35 |
| Fordwater School April 29th | The Senses | 10 |
| Fordwater School May 2nd | Seashore & Pirates | 10 |
| Fordwater School (Secondary Students) | Space! | 12 |
| Fordwater School May 23rd | The Jungle | 10 |
TOTAL NUMBER OF PARTICIPATING: 212
Each session ran between an hour to an hour and a half, depending on the needs of the children and young people.
‘The National Lottery Community Fund’, also enabled me to broaden the use of easily accessible music and sound using a ‘Skoog’ and ‘Makey Makey’.
Feedback
“Tom, thank you for organising Chris to come in and work his magic in our class the last 2 weeks. Everyone, both staff and students, thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. It certainly achieved the aim of ‘Lifting Poetry Off the Page!’ It was so nice to see how the full range of students’ abilities were catered for. They were all able to engage at their own level Thank you from the bottom of our hearts !!”
Anne Clarke, Teacher, Manor Green College, Crawley.KS3 . ASC
“Chris’s Workshops offer pupils the chance to experience poetry, not just read it….ALL pupils were engaged and had access to poetry at their own level. The Workshops gave pupils confidence and ownership of their work and it was lovely to see how proud they were to share their work with others”
Sarah Paige, ( English Teacher ) St Anthony’s School, Chichester
It has been a huge privilege for me to work with and be alongside children, young people and adults, ‘painting’ their own poetry landscapes , having fun, feeling their successes and enjoying ‘the WOW ! factor.
Huge thanks from me to ‘The National Lottery Community Fund’; Cara Lambert , Team Manager- Families and Wellbeing, Library Service, WSCC & ‘Wellspring West Sussex’, for making my Workshops a reality.