Although it’s very important to maintain the distinction between art and therapy, participatory artists are often in positions where they need to support their participants’ mental health. This training is specifically for artists and facilitators and takes a person-centred approach to understanding trauma and incorporating this understanding into your creative practice.
This training will:
Unpick popular perceptions and misuse of language around trauma and PTSD;Provide an overview of the physiology of trauma and an insight from the perspective of a clinical psychotherapist;Offer practical tips for creating safe spaces for participants and avoiding practices which may retraumatise participants;Create a space to explore problem solving using real-life scenarios;Explore asset-based approaches to understanding trauma within social justice frameworks.
This event is aimed at artists working in communities, theatre-makers and activists interested in using the arts as a tool for positive change.
Online Event: This training will take place online using Zoom. You will receive an email with the link.
**Please note: we do not record the sessions because of the sensitive nature of the topic.
Ticket Cost: For attendees supported by their organisations the full price of a ticket is £55.00 For freelancers and individuals from non-regularly funded organisations attendees the price of a ticket is £35.00 For those on low or no income the ticket price is £18.00 They also have a small number of bursary places available for those with limited funds, please email info@collective-encounters.org.uk * *Please Note: Ticket sales will end 24 hours before this event is due to start.
Molly Farquhar is your facilitator who is taking her award winning one-woman show, Hairy Bastard, to Edinburgh Fringe this year. She will be on hand to guide you in writing your own solo performance whether it is auto-biographical or fiction.
What to expect:
Finding your Story
Setting the Journey of your character
What should/shouldn’t I share
Adding humour
Giving the light and shade a rhythm
Avoiding the Pitfalls such as self-indulgence.
Cutting and editing your show
Please be on time, wear comfortable clothes and bring a notebook and pen.
Are you an artist or professional working with young people?
This year in the UK 38,792 children and young people will enter the care system*. In 2023, a total of 83,840 children and young people were looked after**.
This training will explore how creativity can support the wellbeing, personal and educational development of care-experienced children and young people.
Attendees will:
be introduced to the policy / strategic context of the care system;unpack terminology around care and young people;discuss the benefits of creative work for care-experienced children and young people;consider aspects of good practice in working with care-experienced children and young people;explore practical approaches and creative ideas for the work.
Online Event: This training will take place online using Zoom. You will receive an email with the link. Please note – we do not record the sessions because of the sensitive nature of the topic.
Length: 3 hours
Ticket Cost: For attendees supported by their organisations the full price of a ticket is £40.00 For freelancers and individuals from non-regularly funded organisations attendees the price of a ticket is £30.00 For those on low or no income the ticket price is £18.00. They also have a small number of bursary places available for those with limited funds, please email info@collective-encounters.org.uk Please Note: Ticket sales will end 24 hours before this event is due to start.
Join Culture Liverpool Resident Artist, Dora Colquhoun, at a series of family-friendly workshops exploring the meaning of home.
Dora, and co-facilitator Og the Giant, will be hosting a series of family workshops at Spellow Community Hub and Library. The pair will lead fun creative exercises for attendees of all ages to explore the concept of home.
Dora Colquhoun is a neurodivergent writer, facilitator, performer, and theatre maker. Her original shows (ADHD The Musical, and The Lodger) have both met with rave reviews, and are headed to Edinburgh Fringe this summer. Co-facilitator Og the Giant (AKA Isaac Nixon) is a Liverpool based children’s storyteller, with a wealth of experience working with families to unlock their imagination through play and storytelling.
Together, Dora and Og will deliver these creative workshops for families to explore what home means to them.
Join an interactive voyage of discovery for all ages around the Museum of Liverpool’s Wondrous Place gallery.
Discover how Liverpool became the pop capital of the world as we celebrate Liverpool’s creative entertainers, musicians and so much more. This is a very special welcome and introduction to our musical heritage, during a week in which Liverpool platforms its musical talent. Pop quiz responses and singing aren’t compulsory!
The safaris take place at 3pm on 3-4 May, 19-22 June, 24-26 August 2025
Each song city safari takes around 30-45 minutes.
Tickets
There are a limited number of tickets available for each song city safari, which cost £5 per adult and £2 per child aged 6 years to 17 years old. Tickets can be booked on this page and will be available nearer the time.
Join acclaimed theatre maker Andy Smith and award-winning applied arts practitioner Lynsey O’Sullivan for a day of play, discussion, and action.
This day will see three performances of plays from the ongoing project PLAYS FOR THE PEOPLE: A CITIZENS’ ASSEMBLY, HOW CAN WE BE MORE ANTI-RACIST? and THE ACTIONS. These plays tackle the climate emergency, inequality and political activism. They are plays designed to be read aloud together and then discussed. They are plays where the people in the room play the people in the play. Plays that ask questions of acting in both a theatrical and ethical sense.
Audience-participants for this special event will each be given a copy of a new publication containing the plays. Over the course of the day, through the activity, they will be trained in how to undertake performances themselves. Following it, they can then organise them for their own communities and constituencies, free of any charge.
All are welcome. Lunch will be provided. They’d like people from diverse places to join us – arts and educational institutions, community and grassroots organisations, freelance artists and interested individuals. For this reason, tickets are being offered on a pay what you can afford basis between £15 and £45.
They suggest a price of £15 for freelancers and individuals, £25 for teachers, youth workers and those representing smaller arts organisations, and £45 for participants representing bigger institutions such as arts centres and universities. Please do consider paying what you can, as it will allow us to offer bursary places and support for those who for whatever reason are not able to afford to attend.
Take the opportunity to discover some of the secrets of Sudley House. Join their Participation Team for a family-friendly look around this wonderful historic home, and together uncover some of the secrets of the house and of George Holt and his family.
Find out more about Sudley’s wartime past, the House’s hidden safe and much more.
Each Secrets of Sudley House session has a limited number of tickets available. £5.00 per adult and £2.00 per child aged 6 years to 17 years old.
Spend a relaxing afternoon in Sudley House Art Gallery learning a new skill and getting to know new people. In this session they will be creating unique artworks using the technique of paint mixing and pouring to create truly unique pieces.
Their friendly facilitator will guide you through the process to create a selection of smaller and larger artworks for you to take home.
There is no need to have any experience, just bring yourself and some enthusiasm. Whilst your works are drying they will take the opportunity to head to the café for a chat. You never know, you might leave with a new friend as well as a new artwork!
This session is perfect for adults over the age of 18 who are interested and inspired to continue making art. Your £20 ticket includes materials, a facilitator and a hot drink in the café.
Please note that it may take a while for your works to dry and so it may be necessary for you to return to Sudley House later that week to collect your pieces.
This session is perfect for adults over the age of 18 who are interested and inspired to continue making art.
Tickets are £20 and includes materials, facilitator, and a hot drink in the café.
Kiefer Wes Williams, who’s play Orton Fallen Angel is on at Shakespeare North and his work has toured as part of Grin Theatre, is your facilitator for this course. Renown for his fast paced and touching dialogue he will introduce you to real dialogue within the structure of a play.
What to expect:
The key function of dialogue in a script
Writing effective dialogue and what it is.
Making people sound different using hierarchy, mood and local colour
Developing natural Dialogue
Practical exercises to explore what we have learnt
Editing your dialogue and avoiding bad habits
Please be on time, wear comfortable clothes and bring a notebook and pen
Edward Gray writer of Passing Moustache and director of obscurest style plays will be your facilitator. Learning his craft in an era of protest and political theatre Ted’s work could never be called dull or predictable.
What to expect:
The essence of storytelling
What defines a great story
How to break the rules
How to turn left instead of right
How to avoid the pitfalls of predictability
Going outside what you know without falling for stereotypes.
Please be on time, wear comfortable clothes and bring a notebook and pen
