If you’ve always thought about writing, but never known where to begin, this course is perfect for you. With a small, friendly group and a supportive tutor you’ll be surprised to learn that the many different writing genres call for writers with different personality types, interests and lifestyles. We’ll find out what’s involved in the … Read more ►

Escape to Denman – it’s the perfect place for an indulgent Summer Writing Retreat. Make 2020 the year you dig out that unfinished writing project languishing in a drawer, or come and begin something completely new. Join inspirational classroom sessions with tips, ideas and constructive feedback then work in ‘one to one’ sessions with W.I. … Read more ►

Creative writing is therapeutic, relaxing and good for us. It enhances our well-being and boosts self-confidence. On this course we’ll begin by exploring gentle routes into creative writing using music, location, colours, essential oils and the seasons. We’ll move on to look at a variety of writing genres to help you identify which could be … Read more ►

The Women’s Institute has a proud heritage of writing and performing sketches and short plays to entertain ourselves and each other, as well as performing for other members of our communities. Sketch writing and acting is every bit as much fun now as it always was, and this course is designed to continue with the … Read more ►

Thank you to the hard working and talented students who joined me for this course at Denman. We enjoyed discovering various creative prompt ideas together, and finding out which ‘genre’ of creative writing best fitted our different personalities, interests and life styles. We worked on short stories, and for those of us who liked the … Read more ►

What a happy, creative and eventful week we had on our Winter Writing Retreat at Denman and thank you to everyone for all the writing they shared and all the constructive criticism we enjoyed. There’s certainly no such thing as an ‘ordinary’ woman and we travelled the world during our writing. We travelled by sea … Read more ►

You’ve made a will, you’ve decided on a final resting place, you’ve perhaps even pre-payed your funeral – but what about your Eulogy? Are you going to leave your family and friends trying to remember things about you to tell a minister or celebrant, or struggling to decide what to say in their own whistle-stop … Read more ►

Thank you to the small ‘but perfectly formed’ group of students who joined me at Denman recently to Banish Winter Solstice Blues. We had such an interesting time – and loved sharing our own creative ways of dealing with the difficult times which we all have to face. Being creative is wonderfully therapeutic and we … Read more ►

What a great way to spend a Bank Holiday weekend! Thank you to everyone for working so happily together – what an amazing group of life writers Thank you to the couple who shared their life experiences with us, from childhoods in northern England, to working life in Belarus, and canal boating back in the … Read more ►

Research tells us that writing expressively is therapeutic, relaxing and good for you. It enhances well-being and boosts self-confidence. Together we’ll explore routes to creative writing with music, location, colours, language essential oils and the seasons. Whether you’ve never written anything but shopping lists, or whether you’ve been a secret scribbler for years, escape to … Read more ►

Writing your life story or memoir with a specialist life story writing facilitator and a supportive group of like-minded people is a wonderfully reflective and enjoyable occupation. This course is relaxed informal and friendly, designed to give you all the help and inspiration you need to plan, write and organise your own unique life story, … Read more ►

Do you remember your first love? Did you marry your childhood sweetheart? Did you have a glorious affair with a secret lover? Is your love story a fairy-tale ‘Happy Ever After’, is it simply shades of grey, or is it tragedy and heartbreak all the way? Join us to write about REAL women in (and … Read more ►

Supporting Mental Health Through Learning Something New. Come and join us for these free fun relaxed sessions and develop confidence in a friendly environment. We begin on Friday the 11th of January 2019 for 6 weeks at Ilkeston Library, Market St, Ilkeston DE7 5RN 10.00am – 12.00 noon For booking and more information tel. 01629 … Read more ►

Thank you to all the lovely talented women who worked so wonderfully well together at Denman beginning to write their life stories. What a privilege it to share time with you all in that ‘Denman Bubble’. We’ve heard about the problems of escaping haymaking to roam on a deserted American Airbase which turned out not … Read more ►

Thank you to all those sparkling ladies who escaped to the lovely Denman College to enjoy our Creative Writing Winter Retreat. We had a happy and productive time together. We heard about being a Toastmaster/mistress! and scary spider stories, real experiences written to entertain an audience while exploring a debilitating phobia which affects so many … Read more ►

With a Poetry Residency from Erewash Borough Council Arts Development Team Chrissie Hall was asked to identify a group to work with as part of the Winter Solstice event planned to take place in Ilkeston’s Award Winning Victoria Park in December.   Challenges • Making contact with a group. • Arranging a venue. • Agreeing … Read more ►

A Positive Route to Good Mental Health and General Well-being The brief With funding secured by Erewash Writers working with Erewash Voluntary Action, Chrissie Hall was asked to write and deliver six creative writing sessions at Long Eaton Library based on the Five Ways to Well-being, and designed to support good mental health. Creative Writing … Read more ►

Thank you to the delightful and talented students who came along and enjoyed a weekend of comfortable rooms, excellent food, great company and lots of creative writing. We shared our weekend, our ideas and our stories, and what an amazing variety of pieces emerged. The funny and the poetic, the descriptive and the moving. We … Read more ►

Thank you to the lovely group of students who worked together writing their life stories … and doing all that filing and labelling!! What a modest group you were, so many heroines, so many jobs and careers, in banks, schools, hospitals, the military, hairdressing, youth work, and how lovely to work with an early pioneer … Read more ►

Case Study PDF —- Join us for these free friendly photography and creative writing sessions at Big Kirk Hallam Community Centre on Friday mornings this Summer. As well as working on our photographs and creative writing inside the Community Centre we’ll be taking some interesting trips outside, finding inspirational places where we can write, take … Read more ►