What goes on in (Creative and Support Therapy) CaST
What goes on in (Creative and Support Therapy) CaST
As you enter the CaST rooms, depending on what day it is, you can hear singing in the Ayana room, smell the delicious food being created in the Hub, listen to the chatter in the Dragonfly room or the hum of activity in the Lighthouse room. It is in these two rooms that visitors and members can see the beautiful items created from wood, clay, glass and an extensive range of craft supplies available for their use. The rooms used are busy with activities all year round inspired by the seasons and each other and Christmas is no different.
For example, our Christmas Crafters get together on a Monday and create personal objects for themselves, taking advantage of the resources and the good company CaST offers. Patients, volunteers and staff are there to support them, and their creations are beautiful and created with passion.
Then we have our Event Planners. They get together to create items for our events like the hospice Light Up A Life, and for CaST Christmas parties. These products appeal to everyone in the hospice, and the group often have to say no to hospice staff and volunteers wanting one, otherwise there would be nothing to show at the events.
Our Creative Clay group like to socialise whilst they make individualised items for no other reason than they enjoy creating. The beauty of the items comes from the attention to detail, the slightest brush strokes, the constant redesign to attain the perfection they are searching for.
And our Creative Corner has developed from the Creative Clay group over time, with members choosing to come together on occasions to support the Event Planning group.
Between these groups there are a number of members who pop in once or twice a week, dependent on how involved they are with all the activities run in CaST.
You can hear the laughter, the singing and the general hum of activity as they become absorbed in their creativity, allowing them to escape into concentration.
Some of the items lovingly crafted by our Event Planners will be available for purchase at our Light Up A Life event which is taking place on Monday 12th December at East Lancashire Hospice on Park Lee Road.
The beautiful Christmas table displays are a must for anyone visiting on the night, but there are other items available. CaST will also be running a raffle for items created, or put together by our CaST members, including a light up Christmas pudding, a beautiful ballerina table display and a hamper of beauty products put together by sisters who use the CaST services. All of the funds raised from the raffle and items sold go directly back into CaST for crafting resources and CaST activities.
Liz Hollis Team Leader of CaST spends her days running between the Dragonfly and the Lighthouse room but confesses the members blow her mind with their creativity. She sets the challenges and they just run with it. She proudly holds up items fashioned and designed by CaST members, constantly sharing their talent and workmanship as she takes you on a tour to share items created with love and passion.
But there are other sessions available with CaST: the Yoga, the Friday Friends the Singing For Fun and Monday Music Memories are just some of the other activities.
Liz is planning more activities in 2023, giving more members an opportunity to enjoy the facilities, the friendships and to develop their creative talents.
To find out more about the CaST services available to those with life limiting illnesses, visit our website Creative and Support Therapies (eastlancshospice.org.uk)