We have a new member of our team at the centre. Anne Rabbitt joins us as our new Office and Reception Administrator. Anne says:

"I'm really looking forward to meeting members and getting to know them. I love reading and cooking - If anybody has any good recommendations for books or recipes, please let me know!"

I'm sure you'll join us all at the centre in wishing Anne a warm welcome.

New course alert! Creative Journaling with Susan starts this Tuesday and will run for four weeks. Members only, no need to book. Just drop in 12.30pm-2pm at the centre. Each session is £3 on its own, or you can get a day pass to the centre to attend this and our other member drop in sessions for just £5.

On Wednesday 10th May our regular walking group took part in the Greater Manchester Walking Festival event and arranged a walk at Burrs Country Park near Bury. We had a great turn out with 15 people in total completing the walk, which was designed by two of our volunteers, Jane & Evan.

It felt like we had 4 seasons of weather as we walked through trees and along by the River Irwell! We discovered some of the stone sculptures located in a clearing, the stones were carved by Julie Edwards in 1997 and were recycled from a bridge in Bury which was dismantled. The stones had markings left by the original masons and Julie turned these into symbols of the historic industries of Greater Manchester including hammers, screws and fish!

There were some great discussions and conversations as we walked through the park on all sorts of topics, we had some great feedback from our members about how good it was to get out, have a walk and a chat.

We returned to the creative living centre and many of us shared lunch in our sunshine café at our regular lunch service which happens every Wednesday.

If you're interested in taking part in similar events, our Walking Group meet Wednesdays 11am - 12.30pm at the centre, and a lot of the gang stick around for lunch service afterwards for a cuppa and a chat, 12.30pm - 2.30pm

A massive thank you to our volunteers Jane, Evan, Helen, Angela who helped on the day 😊
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Tom Wild
Take Part Co-ordinator

Next week is Mental Health Awareness Week. The theme this year is anxiety. Anxiety is a normal emotion for most of us, but sometimes it can get out of control and become a mental health problem. Here at the CLC, we are supporting Mental Health Awareness Week to increase awareness and provide support for individuals experiencing difficulties with anxiety.

This year we have a special timetable of events which will be free and open to all, including non-members. You can find out more on our dedicated page. These events are additional to our usual timetable and won't affect the usual schedule for members.

On Thursday 30th March we welcomed a team of 7 volunteers from Lloyds Banking Group to the Creative Living Centre to get a fresh coat of paint on our hallway walls and reception area. One of our regular volunteers Esme also lent a hand with the planning of colours and helped facilitate during the morning to support the team. She also has very special plans for some of our other wall spaces! (More news to follow soon)

Our walls had begun to show their age somewhat, scuff marks, blu-tac stains and drawing pin holes were covered up by the team. In our reception area a bright purple welcome now awaits our members and visitors! In the main hallway the walls have been refreshed in white ( a blank canvas to be developed) and in the hallway leading to our café the team also added some bright lilac/purple to the walls and noticeboards.

We want to say a massive thank you to the team from Lloyds bank for giving up their time and energy to come and help us brighten up our hallways and for documenting their visit so well! We hope that they might return to help us out with other projects next year.

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Also a huge thanks to Esme for helping co-ordinate the painting project and supporting on the day, we can’t wait to see your next art endeavours at the centre!

Tom Wild
​Take Part Coordinator