Pat Winslow worked for twelve years as an actor before leaving the theatre in 1987. She has published seven collections, most recently, Kissing Bones with Templar Poetry. Pat’s fiction has also won awards and been published. She has worked in schools and universities, hospitals, prisons, day centres, care homes, memory cafes, museums, libraries and youth centres when there were such things. Pat is also a storyteller.
Pat enjoys working with other artists including those from visual and performing arts disciplines. She also values working with interpreters and enjoys finding new ways to communicate. Pat speaks a bit of French and she is learning German.
Jon is a poet, writer, comedian and performer of all the above, regularly appearing at theatres, arts festivals, music festivals and strange venues of every shape and size across the country and occasionally beyond, usually under the stage name of Jonny Fluffypunk. A multiple poetry slam winner, and coming second an irritating three times in the National All-Stars Poetry Slam, he is also co-organiser and co-compere of The Hip Yak Poetry Shack, which organises pop-up poetry shows, festival stages, workshops and writing/performance projects across the South West.
Jon is also a freelance poetry/performance workshop facilitator with extensive experience working in schools, youth centres, libraries, prisons, drama colleges and anywhere else someone thinks poetry and creativity can make a difference.
Justine is a writer and teacher currently living in Gloucestershire, and currently work part-time at University of Worcester as a senior lecturer in a health discipline. She is two years into a PhD at the University of South Wales related to creative writing including poetry and narratives exploring the experience of illness. Justine is also an experienced workshop leader and have worked with different types of people including those with mental health and addiction issues. She has run workshops in both community and educational settings and is interested in the how arts and poetry in particular can be used to support people.
Sarah is a poet and nurse living and working in Oxfordshire.
She works in palliative care, part-time, balancing this against her other interests, which include gardening and photography. Sarah is fascinated by the importance of creativity and how this can influence well-being and I have attended courses and study days to develop knowledge and understanding in this area.
She has been involved in teaching on adult education programmes and have held short courses on poetry at my home.
A freelance Dance Practitioner and Arts Manager who specialises in working with older people. With over 20 years’ experience of working with all ages and abilities, she currently works with people with dementia and their carers as well as children and young people. She is Lead Artist for AE-SOP Dance to Health Falls Prevention Programme in Oxfordshire and South End, as well as Arts Co-ordinator for Witney Community Hospital.
Angela is part of Open Arms Artist Collective – a group of 5 independent participatory artists based across Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire; all who have a commitment to working creatively with older people. We are interested in building on the experience and partnerships we have developed in care settings, as well as piloting different creative approaches to engage older people and improve physical activity levels and mental well being.
Trained at London Contemporary Dance School, Marie-Louise was awarded a Dance UK award as an Inspiring Leader of the Future 2014 – 15. She is an experienced dancer and performer of 23 years. Her work with older people has included cross-generational dance projects, U3A dance classes and The Courtyard’s Making of Me project. She performs Vintage Song and Dance show The Mary-Lou Revue in care homes across the county. She is also part of Open Arms Artist Collective – a group of 5 independent participatory artists based across Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire; all who have a commitment to working creatively with older people.
Over the past 20 years, I have delivered many creative projects and training spanning different ages and in a range of settings. I trained in Performance Arts at Middlesex University and Community Dance at the Laban Centre, London.
Throughout my professional career, I have been discreetly leading work in arts and health and have been involved in the delivery and co-ordination of many initiatives from the setting up of the first mature mover sessions in Warrington, developing seated movement work with the frail elderly including the highly acclaimed falls prevention programme in Nottinghamshire, producing ‘Gently Moving’ – a video resource pack aimed at incorporating movement into everyday life for older people to the development of a 5 year movement and wellbeing programme within a Healthy Living Centre in an ex mining community.
Lisa is a freelance creative practitioner, facilitator, and project manager with a background in theatre. She initiates experiences which link people, unlock creativity, excite curiosity, generate dialogue, encourage openness, foster trust, celebrate diversity and difference and develop community.
Lisa started out as an actor, working for many years with theatre companies which created new work. The skills she learnt during this time were numerous and proved directly transferable to the education and community work she has done since my days as a performer. Along the way she has worked as a regular visiting lecturer in a number of UK universities. Lisa also worked with health professionals, facilitating workshops which focus on ‘Difficult Conversations’.
Dance – Lizzy McBain
Lizzy is a theatre maker with a background in the visual arts. She has her own theatre company, UnderConstruction Theatre, based in Oxford. She has directed 13 original productions for UnderConstruction and also direct shows for other companies.
Lizzy also runs many participatory projects and workshops for all different age groups. She is inspired by history and the heritage of a community and enjoy discovering, exploring and sharing hidden stories.
Tamsin graduated in 2014 with a BA (Hons) Drama with Creative Writing and recently studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama and Almeida Theatre with Young People, training in drama workshop facilitation. Her one act play Weird Fishes was selected and produced by UWE’s theatre company Writers’ Block and I am currently developing it to be a full length piece. Tamsin also works at Arnolfini which is a centre for contemporary art as a front of house assistant. Prior to attending university, I worked one-to-one with substance misusers, ex-offenders and people who had been homeless to support them back into sustainable work and/or education.