Vision
Kaleido Arts for Wellbeing uses creative arts to bring wellbeing to people suffering because of war, discrimination, abuse and loss. We recognise that trauma and mental health issues affect people from all walks of life, and we believe everyone should have the opportunity to experience freedom and joy through creativity.
We are looking to move from pilot phase to scale up phase by expanding our reach and impacting the lives of more people with that freedom and joy.
As part of that vision, we want to rent a city centre workshop space to be visible and accessible to people from all over the city of Sheffield, including the marginalised communities represented by our target beneficiary groups. The space we are looking to rent is the basement of the Quaker Meeting House, which we will make a warm, welcoming space that aligns with our values.
By running a rolling programme of workshops, we can support more people to increase their emotional wellbeing and decrease the need for more expensive interventions.
Existing programmes
- Crafting for Wellbeing
- Drama for Wellbeing
- Drumming for Wellbeing
- Woodwork for Wellbeing
- Writing for Wellbeing
Team
Katherine Blessan
Katherine is a social entrepreneur, author and qualified English teacher. She has plenty of experience working cross-culturally including living and working overseas. Having experienced the hostility of the immigration system at first hand, Katherine has a particular passion to support the wellbeing of refugees and asylum seekers and believes in the power of creativity to bring healing.
Sarah Holly
Sarah Holly is a psychotherapist trained in several modalities and has worked within the NHS and charity sector with a diverse population experiencing a range of mental health difficulties. At the heart of all she does is her compassion for people and seeing them free to be themselves. An area of particular interest is seeing marginalized people having opportunities to flourish creatively.
Jill Ball
Jill Ball is a qualified ESOL and Mathematics teacher who has lived and worked in both Africa and the Middle East. Over twenty years ago, she helped found Open Door North East, which continues to support refugees and asylum seekers. For six years, she ran a project helping refugee women in Turkey, and is currently employed as a Refugee Integration Support Worker. Jill is convinced that creativity is a powerful tool to help overcome past hurts.
Narges Torkamani
Narges Torkamani is from Iran and participated in one of our Writing for Wellbeing programmes in 2022. She has an MA in Architecture and has worked as a designer. She enjoys making beautiful embroidery and all kind of handicrafts, creating them with love. She helped develop and deliver our pilot Woodwork for Wellbeing programme which we ran in Jordanthorpe.
Why support us?
- We are inclusive. 22 nationalities have been supported by us in our first 3 years with 82.4% from Black Asian Minority Ethnic groups.
- We are compassionate and caring. One female participant from South Africa said, “The people are very nice. They are more like a family to us. When we cry, they cry with us. I got the chance to speak out about my situation, which helped my wellbeing.”
- We are changing lives for good. Multiple testimonies testify to lifted mood, improved confidence, the joy of finding your voice and the freedom of self-expression.
- The work we do is preventative and restorative, reducing reliance on more expensive forms of intervention. One female Trinidadian participant said, "The workshops are more effective than therapy because they enable me to feel connection and a sense of belonging."
- We believe in empowerment. We are working with microgrant organisation Purple Shoots to develop Self-Reliant Groups to follow on from our creative workshops. These groups are all about support, savings, skill sharing and enterprise.
Use of money from Crowdfunder
- To secure funding for rental of Quaker Meeting House in Sheffield for one year
- To secure the Project Manager's salary for 6 months
- Any surplus income higher than the goal will be used for freelance facilitation fees for the autumn term.