Art class friendships spark joy after brain injury

Simone (left) says making friends with others who have a brain injury makes her feel "normal"

Alex and Simone are entirely comfortable in one another's company after meeting at an art workshop several years ago.

The pair have more than a love of creating art in common - both are living with a brain injury.

Alex Hughes was just 16 when he was hit over the head with a bottle while on holiday with friends. Simone Hughes was 36 when she had a brain haemorrhage.

"Nobody knows what it's like unless you have it, it's like a knowledge," said Alex, 32.

Simone said meeting Alex and others with brain injuries made her feel less alone and able to "let it all go".

"It makes you feel normal," she said.

Beth Morris has been running The Sketcher Project for seven years

Both Alex and Simone attend The Sketcher Project, weekly art classes for people living with a brain injury at Insole Court in Cardiff.

The class is run by artist Beth Morris.

"We don't just do art, we have a good chat and we're friends, we're family," she said.

"Alex is the king of banter and it is hysterical, they're just great mates."

Alex's artwork is on display at an exhibition at Insole Court

Back in 2009, Alex had just finished his GSCEs and was on holiday with friends in Puerto de Andratx in Mallorca when he was hit over the head with a bottle.

He suffered a brain haemorrhage in the attack, was placed in an induced coma and flown back to the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff.

"For the first six months after the attack I thought it was a dream and then I realised it wasn't and it was real," he said.

Before the attack Alex had planned to do A-levels and was thinking of pursuing a career in law but everything changed.

Some friendships fell away, he said, he had countless surgeries and then his father died in 2010.

The attack has left him with weakness down his left side and other issues such as fatigue and difficulties with concentration.

Alex went to college but said he struggled, before working in a call centre alongside volunteering for the charity Marie Curie and Rookwood Hospital, where he was able to support others coming to terms with a brain injury.

Seven years ago Alex attended Beth's first ever class for those with brain injuries and has been a regular ever since.

The Sketcher Project was the idea of Beth's cousin Rhiannon Stokes who runs Barry-based company Stokes Case Management, and has clients living with brain injuries. Her company now funds the weekly Thursday classes so it is free to attend.

"It's like an escape," said Alex, who likes to sketch portraits with Biro.

"For an hour and a half you just focus on one thing, and it's really lovely here. It's like a retreat really."

Alex said he sometimes spotted people looking at him because "I stumble and limp as well so I look like I'm drunk all the time" - but at the art class he never feels judged.

Simone says the friendships she has made at the art workshops are comforting

Simone, who is married with three children, has been coming to the class for more than two years.

In 2020 she was working as a support worker when she got a headache.

"I'd never had one before," she said.

"I think it took my balance a little bit and I must have passed out, that's all I remember."

Unbeknown to Simone she had the condition arteriovenous malformation (AVM) which had caused a brain haemorrhage.

She spent eight months in hospital where she had to learn to walk and talk again.

Today she lives with acquired ataxia which affects co-ordination, balance and speech.

She said she felt able to share both her good days and her bad days with the friends she has in class.

"It's very comforting because they know what I'm on about," she said.

Asked how life has changed since the haemorrhage, Simone's answer is surprising.

"It might actually be better," she said.

"I'm getting out more, I'm meeting so many more people, so I suppose I'm doing things that I would never dream of."

Manon says her art friends "mean a lot"

Former doctor Manon Skyrme, 55, is also a class regular.

She too lives with a brain injury after fracturing her skull, neck, back and pelvis in a fall from a second floor window in 2017.

Manon has been enjoying success with her art. She has won prizes at the Royal Welsh Show and one of her patchworks is currently on display at Liberty London.

For her, art is a way to keep busy and avoid over-thinking.

"Art classes mean a lot more to me than the actual artwork," she said.

"It gives a structure to my week and something to look forward to every Thursday and an amazing new group of friends who are all struggling with similar problems to myself."

The frequent coffees and chats with her art friends "means a lot", she added.

Alex, Simone and Manon all have their work on display at the Inspired at Insole Summer Exhibition at Insole Court until 8 September.