Charity secures funding for creative projects

Children and families created a yellow banner in recovery art workshops

A Wolverhampton homelessness charity has secured funding to start a series of creative projects for those in recovery from addiction and their families.

The Good Shepherd Wolverhampton has won a grant of £89,000 from Arts Council England, which will fund three years of work.

Some of the projects have already started in partnership with Wolverhampton 360, which ran recovery art workshops, led by local artists Ewan Johnson and Charlotte Webb.

Kate Penman, the project lead at Good Shepherd, said: "These workshops with Ewan, Charlotte and Wolverhampton 360 have been joyful and it's been wonderful to see how children fearlessly approach the task in hand."

Mr Johnson worked with children and families to create felt butterflies and artwork inspired by rebirth and hope, featuring the slogan #RecoveryAyWe.

Together, they produced a vibrant 5ft (1.5m) banner which led the UK Recovery Walk in Wolverhampton on Saturday.

Over the sessions, the group also created canvases with their own inspired designs, as well as flags celebrating recovery with Wolverhampton references.

Ms Webb, an artist with lived experience of alcohol dependency, led the workshops with young people.

The stress of a high-powered job saw Ms Webb struggle with alcohol dependency before she sought help with Recovery Near You and after a medicated detox began her own recovery journey.

She graduated from the University of Wolverhampton with a degree in illustration and is now a full time artist.

Ms Webb openly shared her story with the young people who attended her weekly art group over the summer, some of whom may be using substances themselves or living with someone who does.

The group worked on canvas board, with vinyl and paint to create uplifting slogans and encouragements for people in recovery.