Inspirative Arts was set up due to the success of our pilot test in Summer 2009. The pilot test was supported by Derbyshire Advocacy Service and Revive Health Living Centre. Derbyshire Advocacy Service believed in what we do and that we could change peoples’ lives. Therefore they helped us make our workshops accessible for people with learning disabilities. See our past events page for more information about the pilot test. Read about what we found and what our workshops have done for the clients.

We (Tracey & Sarah) both did the pilot test because we were newly graduates from the course ‘Creative Expressive Therapies’ at the University of Derby. The course provided us with the necessary skills and experience needed to do Creative Expressive workshops.

With both our ambitions and passion to help others we knew that this was what we wanted to do. We wanted to use the arts to help people express themselves, so we could help improve peoples’ lives and make a difference.

Having researched that adults with learning disabilities are the most socially excluded amongst our society (from Valuing People Now) we began by offering our service to this client group. We wanted to help adults with learning disabilities express themselves and be who they are.

Valuing People Now is a 3 year strategy set up to improve the lives of people with learning disabilities, and the lives of their families and carers. Their work includes: employment, housing, families, health, workforce issues.

This is a good strategy for people with learning disabilities and we believe that our workshops can help their aims. Our workshops can assist individuals to explore different ways to communicate and express their needs.