People invited to share voices of hope, joy, light and meaning in new creative writing project
A new anthology of poems, known as the Hope Collective, will give voice to the creative talent in our communities, and show how creative writing can spark feelings of hope, joy, light and meaning.
The Hope Collective has been launched by the research and development team at South West Yorkshire Partnership Teaching NHS Foundation Trust in collaboration with the National Poetry Centre.
People from all walks of life, ages and abilities, are invited to submit a poem to be a part of the book, including staff and patients who use services at the Trust. The poem should be something that you would wish to read yourself and be focused on one of four categories – hope, joy, light and meaning – and under 450 words.
Once poems have been submitted, a panel of NHS staff, patients, and representatives from the National Poetry Centre, our Trust linked charity Creative Minds and recovery colleges, will choose the 60 poems to be published in the first Hope Collective anthology of poems. Entries will be chosen on how they made the panel feel. Poems should be your original idea and written by an individual, not a group.
Poems should be submitted using this online form before 7pm on 31 January 2025. If you are unable to use the form and have written your poem on paper, please call 01924 316289 and one of the Trust’s research and development team will be able to help you.
The book will be published in spring 2025 and proceeds from sales will be donated to EyUp! the Trust charity.
You can read more about the criteria for the poems on the online form.
You can also download a poster here.
Or in other words…
There’s an open space to let your thoughts go free,
Send a poem, under four hundred fifty.
Don’t worry about spelling, or grammar’s tight hold,
Let your pen do the work, let your stories be bold.
Capture the feelings going round in your mind,
Creativity flows, in each verse you’ll find,
Different paths to wander, four themes to explore,
Hope, joy, light, meaning, knocking at the door,
Write by day or by night,
Let your thoughts shine bright.
A panel awaits, with open hearts wide,
Linked to our charities, they’re there to guide.
They’ll seek the poems that moved them the most,
So, to your voice, let’s raise a toast.
