‘Crafternoons’ to be held in ‘accessible’ Northampton town centre venue to help promote positive mental health

Sophia Kyprianou has been running 'crafternoons' since October 2018.

The woman responsible for ‘crafternoons’, or creative wellbeing sessions as they are also known, is hoping that moving to the town centre will encourage more people to join in.

Sophia Kyprianou has been hosting the sessions since October 2018 after seeing Mind’s similar event that is held twice a year.

The 31-year-old said: “The sessions promote positive mental health in a creative way that’s accessible to all in the community and affordable.

Some of the crafts that have been made at Sophia's 'crafternoons'.

“It’s a chance for people to come together, connect with each other and support each other.

“It’s pay what you feel so people just make a donation, which keeps the materials we use going.

“Each week we do a new craft. This week we are doing plastic bottles crafts.”

Sophia, who owns her own creative workshop business, says she is ‘passionate about positive mental health.’

She added: “Mental health is a part of our everyday life and the sessions are something people can engage with on a local community level.

“We have a mix of people as the sessions are open to all ages. The youngest I’ve had was two years old and the oldest was 65.

“We get about five to ten people at most sessions. Some come every week, some come as and when they can.The sessions are really relaxed.”

The ‘crafternoons’ are currently hosted on a Tuesday at Umbrella Fair in Kettering Road near the Racecourse between 1.30pm and 4pm.

Wednesday sessions in the town centre have also been introduced, but Sophia is still waiting for the permanent venue to become available.

She added: “We are trying somewhere different to make it more accessible from the town so everyone can get to the sessions easily.”

At the moment, Wednesday ‘crafternoons’ are held at Cafe Track in Market Square between 1.30pm and 3.30pm.

Sophia is hoping to move to her permanent venue, which is Community Court Yard's new building named The Yard in Gold Street.

Once the new location is available, hopefully within a few weeks, the Wednesday sessions will change to 1.30pm until 4pm.

Everyone is welcome to attend any of the sessions.

For more information about ‘crafternoons’, check out Sophia’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, which all have the handle of @thecuratoreducator.