To coincide with Children’s Mental Health Week, the Crafts Council and Hobbycraft have announced a UK-wide initiative, Let’s Craft, aimed at providing 15,000 craft kits to children in need. With many families unable to afford the most basic of art and craft materials at home, such as crayons and pencils, the kits will be distributed via a cohort of nationwide community partners, to ensure those most in need can access the mental health benefits that crafting brings.
Whilst creativity can feel like a low priority during a cost-of-living crisis, it has been proven to provide children with hours of happiness and escapism. Among those aged six to 16 in England, one in six had a probable mental health condition in 2021 (1). From having difficulties in social situations, to finding school work overwhelming, when left unresolved, these feelings of stress can then go on to cause a wide array of other issues, such as anxiety, mood swings, sleeping issues and weight gain.
However, getting creative has been proven to ease stress and help children release the pent-up emotions they might be feeling in their day-to-day life (2). Activities like drawing or painting, for example, reduce levels of cortisol in the brain – a hormone typically associated with stress. Because of this, these hobbies can then limit the onset of mental health conditions in later life, like anxiety, insomnia, and depression.
To identify and reach children in need across the UK, Hobbycraft and Crafts Council are working with nine UK-wide regional community partners, each of whom has a direct route to families most in need within their respective areas.
The regional partners include Artswork (South East), Arts Connect (Birmingham), Culture Bridge (North East), Curious Minds (Wigan), Festival Bridge (Norwich), Islington Council (London), Plymouth Scrapstore, ROH Bridge (Purfleet) and The Mighty Creatives (Leicester).
The Hobbycraft craft packs include 1000 pieces to help children develop their creativity, cognitive skills, hand-eye coordination and more. Included in the packs are pom poms, chenille stems, foam sheets, fabric flowers, wooden people, plastic mosaics, glitter bottles, wooden matchsticks, paint pots, paper plates and more. From making their own monsters to crafting cards, or collages, the pack brings children a fun mix of craft materials and essentials to kickstart craft projects.
The public can purchase one of the craft boxes themselves for £6.00 too, view online at Hobbycraft here.
Nicky Dewar, the director of learning and skills at Crafts Council, comments: “Sadly, there are far more people in need in 2023 than there should be. Because of this, we know that many families are unable to provide even basic crafting materials for their children to enjoy. With half term fast approaching, we’re glad to play a small part in helping children to unlock their creativity and we can’t wait to see what brilliant creations the children come up with!”
Katherine Paterson, the customer director at Hobbycraft ,comments: “This year, we are delighted to be sending out 15,000 craft packs to families in need. Our craft kits can help develop children’s creativity, cognitive skills, and hand-eye coordination, and who knows, it might just trigger off a love of craft that lasts a lifetime.”
If you’d like to help even more families across the UK enjoy these craft kits, please donate to the Let’s Craft appeal https://donorbox.org/let-s-craft.
