Word/Play is a long -running, creative well-being programme that uses performance poetry to help people feel heard, valued and more confident in themselves. We believe that everyone has something important to say. And that saying it creatively, aloud and together, can be powerful and transformative.
The programme offers a group of participants the chance to work with professional poets in a warm, welcoming and playful setting. Together they write, share, and explore the joys of language, ending with an informal performance in front of family, friends and peers.
Word/Play has had a positive impact on many individuals and groups in Somerset, including people experiencing mental ill health, as well as adults with learning disabilities and autism. Organisations we have worked with include: Somerset MIND; OpenStoryTellers; Chard WATCH CIC; Abri Housing Association; Ryalls Park Medical Centre; The Hub, Yeovil; and ARK at Egwood.
Word/Play is all about offering a creative experience that’s enjoyable, life-affirming and tailored to what people need.
We produced our most recent Word/Play project in partnership with ARK at Egwood, a therapeutic land-based provision where people come together to improve their health, wellbeing and social connections through rural, nature-based activities.
For a large part of 2025, supported by The National Lottery Community Fund, participants met weekly, inspired by performance poets Liv Torc and Jonny Fluffypunk, to play with words and build their self-esteem. Our colleagues at ARK provided a safe space for people to work together, giving them the opportunity to offer each other peer support, share experiences and build relationships. Expressing their emotions, and having them acknowledged by others, helped to develop individual confidence and a stronger collective voice.
Towards the end of the project, an informal event gave participants the chance to share their achievements with their peers. They also created a ‘prototype’ poetry trail in the woods and published a book of their poetry, Wonky Swan Poetry.
This haiku, written by Molly, encapsulates what the project was all about:
A pencil in hand
curates my hardest feelings,
turns them into art.
"Word/Play has been one of the most uplifting projects to have been bestowed upon ARK’s creative community. It has brought together an unlikely group of wordsmiths; strangers without confidence have become friends who inspire. Far less of the ‘I can’t’ and more of the ‘Wow, I wrote that!’ Along with the ingenious and animated support of Liv and Jon, this project has literally changed several lives for the better."
(Jemma Harper, Training and Development Lead)
The project at The Hub in Yeovil worked with two groups of adults with learning disabilities and autism between January and May 2023. Supported by funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, the Hub Trainees benefited hugely from working creatively with professional poets Liv Torc, Roz Hilton, Chris White, Chris Redmond and Jon Seagrave to find new ways to communicate and build their confidence in a safe and fun environment.
"Word/Play is such an amazing experience. Our trainees are given so many opportunities in an inclusive environment to share their feelings and thoughts. The confidence and pride in their own abilities that they gained by expressing themselves freely was immense." -Sharon, Hub Work Coach
"I love it, I did feel included in everything. I loved the poetry and the fun we had." - Martha, Hub Trainee
We first ran a project in partnership with the Hub in early 2020, also supported by the National Lottery Community Fund.
Due to the pandemic, we successfully transferred the project online where the participants worked together via Zoom, proving to be a creative highlight of their week!
Funding from the Coronavirus Community Support Fund, distributed by The National Lottery Community Fund, helped us to provide continuity and online support for the trainees at The Hub by running Zoom workshops and building on the work achieved so far.
We’re thrilled to share two tangible outcomes from Word/Play ‘online’: a book and a film.
Screaming at Butterflies is a collection of poems written before and during the COVID pandemic by adults experiencing learning difficulties, autism or mental health challenges.
Giving them a chance to be heard, even when shielding in a global pandemic, it is a book of real, raw and awesome words.
Click here if you would like to buy a copy of the book for £7 (plus 75p postage).
Sheefly-Smiggle-Kinderland was created by trainees at The Hub, supported by Liv Torc and Chris White, to communicate their COVID hopes and fears in a fun and safe way.
We produced the Rainbow Fish Speak Easy, a spoken word and live poetry platform, at the Hub for several years. Prior to lockdown, the bi-monthly event developed as a way to provide Word/Play participants to regularly meet and perform in a fun and safe environment.
Over time it grew to include and feature other writers and performers in the area. Each event was topped off with a big headline act and became a hugely popular poetry platform in Somerset. Headliners included Kate Fox, Francesca Beard, Jonny Fluffypunk, Chris Redmond, Elvis McGonagall, Pete the Temp, Birdspeed and Dizraeli.
Although we were able to programme the Rainbow Fish Speakeasy online for several months during lockdown, sadly the pandemic brought an end to the ‘live’ events. But those were a wonderful few years where participants were able to meet and perform regularly, taking part in local poetry events, slams and festivals, including Buddhafield and WOMAD.
We were delighted to be partners with Spark Somerset and Somerset Wildlife Trust in Thriving Communities Somerset, a new community-based project that benefited people’s health and wellbeing in Somerset.
Supported by the Thriving Communities Fund, Somerset County Council and Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group, the project aimed to strengthen and expand the range of social prescribing activities offered in Somerset, including creative and nature-based sessions and groups, by setting up a new partnership of organisations from a wide range of sectors.
These activities formed part of Social Prescribing, a national initiative where people are supported to engage in local community-based activities and services that can improve their health; such as peer support groups, physical activities, social groups, debt advice services and volunteering opportunities.
This partnership supported the development of these activities by working with existing groups to help them become more sustainable in the long term and better connected into the local health & care system.
Our colleagues at Ryalls Park Medical Centre in Yeovil were instrumental in helping us to develop Word/Play as a social prescribing intervention, as demonstrated by this film:
Contact Mark Helyar mark@takeart.org Director of Theatre
tel: 01460 249450
