Local Chippenham charity Kandu Arts are working to amplify marginalised voices with a regular free monthly creative writing group on the last Monday of each month.

The group, called “In the Margins” is dedicated to amplifying those that have previously been marginalised. This could include people with severe mental health issues, neurodiverse folks, LGBTQ+ people and those from BIPOC communities as well as anyone else who feels their voice is marginalised.

This idea was brought to us by a passionate neurodiverse writer who has suffered with some serious mental health issues such as psychosis and enjoys writing as a way of understanding her condition.

The group which is aimed at people who are 18+ is free to all will have a different theme each week. All they ask is that you bring along your favourite writing materials and best creative ideas.

These workshops will be held at the Kandu Arts Shop which is located at Unit 3 in Emery Gate Shopping Centre on Emery Lane, Chippenham, SN15 3JP. The sessions will run from 2-3pm on the last Monday of each month.

Kandu Arts is based in Chippenham, in Wiltshire, and has worked since 1998 with communities, often the most marginalised and hardest to reach up and down the country.

Its approach, which uses arts and activities - music, film, visual arts & sport - as a means to explore a wide range of issues when combined with nurturing strong relationships, is highly effective in areas of engaging the disaffected, increasing community cohesion and development.

Georga Coleman who runs the social media for Kandu Arts commented “We’re so excited to support voices which are often marginalised and champion diversity with this creative writing group. We hope that the content from this group will eventually be produced as a zine and it’s worth noting that we’ve also set up other groups, such as a poetry group. If you have an idea for a group that supports marginalised people and centres around the arts and creativity, get in touch.’

You can find out more about Kandu Arts on its website www.kandu-arts.com


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