A group of disabled women are combining their creative skills to make a new accessible crafting club for those struggling with disability, mental health issues and loneliness.
Sam Cleasby, a disabled artist from Sheffield and her best friend Caroline Hayes, a neurodivergent designer, have decided to start a club in Sheffield called ‘Make Good Social’ that can act as a safe space for disabled and neurodivergent people to meet each other.
Mrs Cleasby said: “As women in our forties and fifties, it’s really hard to make friends and meet people who you’ve got something in common with especially because so many people work remotely or freelance.
“Human connection is the thing that makes us human, it’s what we all need in life and during the pandemic lots of people lost relationships and friendships and I think so many people are feeling isolated.”
The artist has Ulcerative Colitis and an ostomy bag, she sometimes needs to use a wheelchair or walking stick and Miss Hayes has symptoms of perimenopause which coincided with her ADHD diagnosis last year causing her to leave her graphic designer job.
The two, who met at a parent and toddler class and have been best friends for over 20 years, decided to launch the club with their friend Charlotte Warren. As people with lived experience of disability, they understand some spaces can be difficult to access and can help to make reasonable adjustments.
Mrs Cleasby said: “We spend a lot of of time doing things that make us happy and making things just for the fun of it, not for work.
“We wanted to do something that was nice but also includes cake because that’s always an important part of joy for us. It’s a club made by disabled women for disabled women and non binary people.”
Their first event will be a collaging workshop on 2 May in Smithdown Studios between 7pm and 10pm and tickets will be £25.
They believe money should not be a barrier to accessing art and social connection and have tried to keep their prices as low as possible, but are still working hard to secure funding.
Mrs Cleasby said: “It is about the making, it is about learning a new skill, but it’s also about having some play time as an adult. Children play all the time, it’s a natural way of learning and regulating emotions but as an adult we’re taught that it’s foolish and childish.
“The joy of making is the process rather than the outcome.”
The group are working on planning future embroidery and lino printing workshops and encourage people to attend either with friends or on their own.
