Join our main programmes of free creative activities for adults. Give one of our workshops a go and discover how being creative makes us feel good and is great for our mental health and wellbeing.
At hoot creative arts we are increasingly aware that experiencing racism, discrimination, and bias of all levels throughout a lifetime has a long-term impact on mental health.
hoot is here for all residents of Kirklees regardless (but with awareness and competence) of heritage, culture or creed. hoot celebrates human diversity and how this has influenced and contributed to Britain’s development through music, art, writing, song, traditions, festivals and a whole host of cultural elements. The creative health sector and charities across the UK will be a vital part of the healing process and the drive to challenge discrimination, misinformation, and bias directly through our engagement, design and delivery of projects.
I grew up in the 1970’s when my mother (White British) had National Front leaflets thrust into her hand as she walked along streets in Manchester with my stepfather (PHD student, Indian national and Muslim).
50 years later, and during my time working here in Kirklees I have heard once again about the prejudice that is faced throughout a lifetime by British citizens of colour stretching one, two, three and more generations back and now by new residents who seek a safe and secure future for their families.
When politicians and the media actively use and do not adequately challenge racist tropes and divisive rhetoric, such as "Hostile Environment," "Stop The Boats," "Take Back Control," and "Enemies of the People," (with reference to lawyers and courts) they fuel a climate of hatred and intolerance, culminating in the horrors witnessed on our streets these past 10 days.
As Jo Cox famously said in her maiden speech in Parliament: “ …we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us” and it has been heartening to see so many UK citizens standing publicly in opposition to violence, racism and Islamophobia and showing solidarity with those being targeted.
‘Being Creative’ not only ‘Makes You Feel Good’ it builds social health, strengthens connection between individuals and within communities that will always triumph over hatred and division.
Have a go at fun free creative workshops this summer with hoot creative arts. Being creative makes us feel good and is great for our mental health and wellbeing.
Who can attend these workshops? Adults aged 18 or over who live in Kirklees
How much do they cost? It’s free to attend all workshops
Summer Salsa Music Workshops with Rob
10:30am - 12:30pm
Tuesday 13th & 20th August
Howlands, School Street, Dewsbury, WF13 1LD
Join us for Latin rhythms, upbeat percussion and tasty tunes; we’ll be playing, singing and grooving our way through summer.
6pm - 7:30pm
Wednesday 31st July & 7th, 14th, 21st August
Growing Works Wakefield Road Allotments, Wakefield Road, Huddersfield, HD5 9XN
Join us on the allotment where we'll be drawing with natural inks and sewing and casting with seeds, plants and flowers. Absolutely no experience necessary.
6pm - 7:30pm
Thursday 15th and 22nd August
S2R Create Space, 5-7 Brook Street, Huddersfield, HD1 1EB
Songs of sun, warmth and stars. Join musician Rob Crisp in singing and strumming round the fire; simple songs with accessible chords, beautiful harmonies and chilled summer evening vibes, no musical experience necessary.
The Summer issue of Your Voice in Kirklees Newsletter is out today!
Your Voice in Kirklees (YVIK) creates quarterly newsletters created by volunteers from Kirklees branches of Richmond Fellowship, S2R, WomenCentre, Clear, hoot creative arts, Touchstone and Carers Count.
Please find below details on the ways people can read/download this newsletter:
Episode 2 - Music and Dementia: Young-onset Dementia Group
A heart-warming episode recorded over two days, providing an insight into how those who live with dementia, their carers and volunteers interact with and discuss music. The young-onset dementia group meets regularly at Brian Jackson House, supported by the Kirklees Dementia Hub and hoot creative arts. With around fifteen participants, this established group provides a significant space for people who have dementia and their carers to take part in activities and support each other. Not all participants were comfortable to take part in talking, however they had lots of fun with exploring how music makes them feel. Listening to live music by Karen Clegg and using instruments enabled them to open-up about their experiences with music.
Credits: Editing and Production support by Kirran Shah. Featuring musician Karen Clegg, interview with Carer James, Project manager Estelle and Group Facilitator Tina. Supported by Sharleen, Estelle and Tina
The official release of the Spring 2024 Your Voice in Kirklees Newsletter is here and we hope everybody enjoys reading this edition!
Your Voice in Kirklees (YVIK) creates quarterly newsletters created by volunteers/staff from Kirklees branches of Richmond Fellowship, S2R, WomenCentre, Clear, hoot creative arts, Cloverleaf Advocacy and Carers Count.
New contributors are always welcome, we meet Wednesday's via Zoom at 12.30pm, please email Karl.Jackson-Lander@richmondfellowship.org.ukif you'd like to join for the first meeting of the Summer edition which starts on the 17th April 2024!
Please find below details on the ways people can read/download this newsletter. There's 2 different versions, a standard version (34MB~) and a high quality print version (85MB~) both downloadable from the YVIK Google Drive link below.
We are delighted to introduce Peter Lyster as our new Chair of the Board of Trustees at hoot creative arts. As Chair of the Board, Peter will play a pivotal role in hoot’s mission; helping people to discover how being creative makes us feel good.
Previously the Chair of Governors at a local high school and a trustee with Union Dance, a contemporary dance company in London. Peter brings skills and experience in marketing with a range of businesses including o2, the London Stock Exchange, BT, and local stockbrokers BWD Rensburg.
On joining the board of trustees, he said, “I cannot tell you how pleased I am to be joining hoot. I have followed their work for some time, and I am so impressed by their engagement in the community. It is my ambition to help them to make an even greater impact and help more local people”.
CEO at hoot, Gavin Clayton said: “Having a Chair with the range of experience Peter brings is a great asset for hoot as we work within the Creative Health sector and this means tracking and responding to many interlinked areas of individual & community need, policy development and range of contexts. As CEO I will greatly appreciate the stability a permanent Chair appointment will bring to our discussions, planning and decision making at Board level.”
We also worked with Creative Consultant Jane Willis in collaboration with Kirklees Music Ecosystem Network. Jane created resources for freelance artists.
This project aimed to explore Creative Care Planning ideas. We wanted to involve people with differing health needs, empower them to tell us how music impacts on their health, what they would like their music to sound like and how they want to be supported to access this.
The Rhythm of Life Podcast
Using podcasting to communicate ideas and discuss themes around music and health
Working with People First Keighley and Craven, an advocacy organisation for people with learning disabilities, our participants were empowered to learn about and access new technology to create sounds, make recordings and discuss themes. Read on to find out more about each podcast episode.
Episode 1 - Music and Learning Disabilities: Laurel Court
Patrick, Richard, Scott and Jamie from Laurel Court Huddersfield travelled to work with People First Keighley and Craven (PFKC) with their support worker Paul. They learned how to produce a podcast and record their own episode using music and health as the theme.
Credits: Editing and Production support by Adam Hopkins. Interviews and production support by Kirran Shah. Podcast created by Patrick, Richard, Scott, Jaime, Luke, Jane, Oliver, Tom, Matthew. Supported by Paul, Catrina and Sharleen
Music
My Organ and Keyboard by Christian from Laurel Court
Episode 2 - Music and Dementia: Young-onset Dementia Group
A heart-warming episode recorded over two days, providing an insight into how those who live with dementia, their carers and volunteers interact with and discuss music. The young-onset dementia group meets regularly at Brian Jackson House, supported by the Kirklees Dementia Hub and hoot creative arts. With around fifteen participants, this established group provides a significant space for people who have dementia and their carers to take part in activities and support each other. Not all participants were comfortable to take part in talking, however they had lots of fun with exploring how music makes them feel. Listening to live music by Karen Clegg and using instruments enabled them to open-up about their experiences with music.
Credits: Editing and Production support by Kirran Shah. Featuring musician Karen Clegg, interview with Carer James, Project manager Estelle and Group Facilitator Tina. Supported by Sharleen, Estelle and Tina
Episode 3 - Music and its personal benefits: CJ and Tayyab
People First Keighley and Craven (PFKC) return to hoot creative arts to run another session on producing a podcast episode all about music and Health. Listen to Daniel and Kenny, CJ and Tayyab talk about how music is very important and has a personal space in their lives, from faith to using music to connect and communicate.
Credits: Editing and Production support by Adam Hopkins. Interviews and Production support by Kirran Shah. Podcast created by Daniel, Kenny, Tayyab and CJ. Supported by Sharleen
Episode 4 - KYOM Rhythm of Life - Behind the Scenes with bonus interviews
This behind-the-scenes episode features sounds and conversations from all four episodes providing an insight into how hoot creative arts and People First Keighley and Craven (PFKC) collaborated to empower individuals to produce an episode all about music and health. You will hear PFKC members train participants on podcast creation with bonus interviews with carer Tahira, her brother Tayyab and CJ, including an Elvis impression by Scott and artist Christian shares his knowledge on natural instruments used in sound healing.
Credits: Editing and Interviews by Kirran Shah. Podcast featuring, Paul. Patrick, Richard, Scott, Jaime, Luke, Jane, Oliver, Tom, Matthew Tahira, Tayyab, CJ, Scott, Caitlin, Charlotte, Artist Christian, Facilitator Sharleen, Catrina Adam and Kirran with Support worker Paul.
Digital care planning - The Rhythm of Life workbook and animations
Through a series of sessions we explored how to communicate about music and sound with carers and support workers
Using arts and crafts such as images and drawing to describe what participants want from music
Using rap and poetry to explain how music makes us feel
Using Mindfulness to pay attention to sounds
As a result, we created The Rhythm of Life digital workbook to be used by individuals, carers and organisations to support discussions on music and health based on ideas tested through this project. It is available to download and use digitally, making it easy to attach to any digital care files if the person lives in care and is easily accessible on mobile devices and laptops for individuals and groups.
Explore the animations below to discover ideas created by participants in these sessions. Individuals used words, sounds and their own voices to bring their moving images to life which help carers and support staff understand what music they like to listen to and what sounds they like. The animations offer a unique insight into the personalities of people living in care, particularly those who may face communication challenges.
Each animation is based on a personal theme, reflecting on a participant's family member's favourite music or soundtrack from a movie. This project helped foster an open and comfortable environment, allowing participants to express themselves creatively.
If explored further this idea can be implemented into other areas of care planning, allowing professionals to gauge how well a person verbally communicates.
Scott lives in a supporting living service; he loves Elvis because his grandad introduced him to his music. Artist Joe created this animation of Elvis dancing with Scott’s voice impersonating Elvis.
Richard likes the Spice Girls music and the movie. We explored how he would like to present this in an animation with his voice, he simply introduces himself and says he likes Posh Spice. Richard does not verbally communicate much unless you get to know him well. This project was a big step for him as he speaks very little but has managed to record various conversations on the podcast and for this animation.
Johnathan does not like to record his voice but loves the sounds of birds, this animation is of a bird tweeting.
This is a new model of partnership delivery with Kirklees Dementia Hub, which includes co-created programmes that focus on a holistic approach for enriching lives and developing the community of support with volunteer development through training.
Sessions have included printmaking, sea shanty singing, musical singalongs, and hand casting. We want to ensure that we facilitate as much ‘normalcy’ for people as possible, being together and catching up over tea and cake is key, as have our additional outings such as an underground tour at the Yorkshire Mining Museum and a full group afternoon out for Christmas dinner
The official release of the Winter 2023 Your Voice in Kirklees Newsletter is today and we hope everybody enjoys reading this edition!
Your Voice in Kirklees (YVIK) creates quarterly newsletters created by volunteers/staff from Kirklees branches of Richmond Fellowship, S2R, WomenCentre, Clear, hoot creative arts, Cloverleaf Advocacy and Carers Count. New contributors are always welcome, we meet Wednesday's via Zoom at 12.30pm, please email Karl.Jackson-Lander@richmondfellowship.org.ukif you'd like to join for the first meeting of the Spring edition which starts on the 10th January!
Please find below details on the ways people can read/download this newsletter. There's 2 different versions, a standard version (26MB~) and a high quality print version (61MB~) both downloadable from the YVIK Google Drive link below.
4. Access through the YVIK social media - If you want to keep in touch with the newsletter group or potentially join/contribute for the Spring edition.
5. Directly on Canva by clicking the link or scanning the QR code attached below - https://bit.ly/3sWs2UN
