CreateNChat: The Craft Group I Never Expected to Love

When we started CreateNChat, I’ll be honest… it felt a little strange.

Arts and crafts have never really been my thing. Apart from sitting with the grandchildren doing a bit of painting or drawing, it’s never been high on my list of favourite activities.

But I kept hearing the same thing from members of our community — people wanted a space to sit, create, and chat. A relaxed place where you could bring whatever you were working on and simply spend time with others.

So I thought… why not? Let’s try it and see what happens. A few weeks, I can officially say: I’m completely hooked.

So far I’ve:

• Decorated a vase using napkins and PVA glue

• Cut out magazines to make a vision board

• Spent time enjoying some very relaxing adult colouring

• And I’m currently attempting to felt a sausage dog (which is still a work in progress!)

My mum finds this particularly amusing. She’s an incredibly talented quilter and has been for years, and I’ve never shown the slightest interest… unless she was making a new quilt for me, of course!

But there’s something really special about these sessions. The room fills with conversation, laughter and creativity. It’s calm and friendly most of the time — although occasionally there’s a bit of frustration when something doesn’t quite go to plan.

What’s lovely to see is how naturally people help each other. Someone will offer advice, share materials, or simply sit and chat while someone else concentrates on their project.

You can bring anything you’re working on:

• Knitting

• Painting

• Embroidery

• Scrapbooking

• Felting

• Colouring

• Or any creative project you fancy bringing along.

And the conversations? They can be anything.

Sometimes it’s deep and meaningful life stories.
Sometimes it’s laughing until you cry.
And sometimes there are real tears if someone has had a tough day.

But that’s the beauty of it. It’s a space where people can just be themselves, create something with their hands, and spend time in the company of others who understand how important simple connection can be. Honestly, CreateNChat is the therapy you never knew you needed.