About Me

I’m an Art Psychotherapist, visual artist, and community activist based in Manchester, originally from Doncaster, South Yorkshire. My work spans private practice, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), community art projects, and mental health development. Rooted in creativity, social justice, and care, my practice focuses on supporting individuals and communities to express, heal, and reconnect — particularly those whose voices are often unheard.

Early Life

My earliest work as a young artist explored my identity as a “miners’ strike baby.” The 1984–85 miners’ strike marked a tipping point for working-class communities in the UK. My family had worked in the mining industry since the 1750s — my great-grandmother Jayne was a female coal miner five generations ago. The strike deeply impacted my family, not only in terms of economic hardship but also through the loss of cultural and political identity rooted in socialist values. To honor, my ancestors and working class history in 2006, I curated a memorial light installation on a former slag heap and ran Pin the Pits a campaign to have former colliery sites re-marked on Ordnance Survey maps. In 2008, I spoke in Parliament to cabinet members and MPs about the importance of preserving working-class history.

Community Activism

From 2010 to 2022, I co-founded and ran Doncopolitan magazine, publishing 38 issues and distributing between 3,000–5,000 copies free to homes across Doncaster. Through Doncopolitan, we worked with countless local artists, businesses, and designers to raise awareness of the importance of the arts and creative industries in a town often associated with industrial decline and negative news coverage.

Our work caught the attention of The Guardian in 2019, leading to interviews with journalists like John Harris. From 2020–2022, I co-produced a film with Guardian filmmaker John Domokos titled Made in Doncaster: I Am Not Your Subject, which documented my activism alongside two other women. I also wrote a piece for The Guardian titled How We Can Change the Way We Tell Stories About ‘the North’, examining the portrayal of working-class communities in national media.

Arts in Healthcare

From 2012 to 2021, I worked part-time as an Arts Practitioner in palliative care within the NHS.
This role profoundly shaped my understanding of the human condition, inspiring me to pursue a Master’s in Art Psychotherapy at Goldsmiths, University of London, where I was awarded an Excellence Scholarship. Through this period, I explored how art-making, psychoanalysis, and group analysis could be powerful tools for healing and transformation.

Supporting Emerging Artists

In 2025, I received a grant from Arts Council England for my work curating the art of Imogen Carline, a young autistic, non-verbal artist with complex learning differences. I have supported Imogen and her family for over seven years, enabling her to develop her artistic practice. Her solo exhibition at Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery featured a large-scale installation of over 300 clay artworks. The exhibition saw 7000 visitor and hundreds of artworks made in response to the exhibition. We are hopeful that this powerful exhibition will tour nationally.

Clinical Practice and Community Work

After completing my Master’s, I worked as an Art Psychotherapist across schools in Manchester, delivering one-to-one and group therapy for children and young people aged 6–19.
This was an incredible experience, providing safe containment for young people to process trauma, stress, fears, and worries. I learned so much from each encounter about the complexity of life and the human condition.

During this period, I developed a passion for working in Special Educational Needs (SEN) schools with young people who have complex learning disabilities. My interest was partly shaped by my long-term work with Imogen Carline. Through creativity, I witnessed how young people with learning disabilities could communicate, self-regulate, build relationships, and revisit developmental stages through the therapeutic process.

Alongside my clinical work, I worked as a Mental Health Development Coordinator for anti-poverty charity Greater Together Manchester. I collaborated with churches, community spaces, and charities to deliver mental health and trauma awareness training. Additionally, I worked closely with the Booth Centre, a homeless charity, where I ran community art groups and supported participants through creative projects.

Art Practice

In 2025, for the first time since studying Fine Art, I am returning to focus on my own art making.
I am currently completing a large-scale piece, first conceived at the end of my Master’s studies. Working under the title Broken Door, the piece explores themes of alienation and transformation.
It centres around a broken door — physically marked with primal scratches and marks (which I broke down after being accidentally locked in a basement). The door acts as a visceral metaphor for a primal scream, reflecting the fractured systems and emotional toll of living in neoliberal, broken Britain.

In addition to Broken Door, I create regular paintings in response to my clinical work, exploring themes such as containment, trauma, and emotional release. Painting is a personal way for me to process and express the emotional intensity of the therapeutic space.

I am currently developing a smaller body of work titled Edge of Glory, which reflects on my experiences working creatively in palliative care — capturing the fragility, courage, and deep humanity of those final encounters. Through drawing, painting, embroidery, and spoken word poetry, I hope to continue to explore the complex emotional landscapes of transformation, healing, and survival.

Throughout my career — whether through therapy, activism, or art — one belief has remained constant: creativity is a radical act of hope, healing, and empowerment. I am committed to creating spaces where stories can be told, identities can be honored, and communities can imagine new possibilities for themselves and their futures.