Creative Sessions with CAMHS

Zine page with cut out letters and handwritten words in many colours and patterns. Reads 'The captivating melancholy engulfed our outlandish universe'

Since 2023, we’ve been co-creating creative writing and illustration sessions which support young people experiencing mental ill health. Crafted with each unique group in mind, the sessions are in partnership with NHS Lothian’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) .  

Whether it’s through producing a zine or making a short film, the overall project aim is to help build confidence in the young people taking part, equipping them with new creative skills, while also offering a fun, absorbing activity that increases their wellbeing. We’ve been really lucky the last three years to work with illustrator Katie Quinn alongside poet Leyla Josephine in 2023, novelist Chris Barkley in 2024, and poet and filmmaker Susannah Khan in 2025.  

This work is made possible thanks to the Weir Charitable Trust and the Jasmine Foundation. 

Image gallery

Explore work from a zine making project:

  • Zine page with cut out letters and handwritten words in many colours and patterns. Reads 'The captivating melancholy engulfed our outlandish universe'
  • A collage of many patterns and colours from a zine page
  • Minimalist, sketchy illustrations of birds from a zine page
  • Illustration of a spray can that says 'fishy smell?' and cut out letters that say 'masking scent' from a zine page
  • A page of drawings and writing. Drawings of fish with bowties on. From a zine page.
  • Drawings of flowers with faces and unclear writing from a zine page
  • Sketches of bra and people wearing bras with words 'wonder wire' at the top
  • Sketch of a guitar, collage of plants, handwriting saying 'the hover guitar' from zine page.
  • Abstract cut out collage of eye and other unclear shapes including a white rectangle inside a blue rectangle

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