Communities

Writers and staff at The Northern School of Writing work with communities in The North of England and further afield to research and apply reading, writing, and the narrative arts. We believe reading, writing and the narrative arts are a social good and personal pleasure promoting wellbeing and enriching the cultural and political health of societies. Use our contact page if you want to explore ideas with our writers and students.

Arts For The Blues

Arts for the Blues began as a collaborative research project between artists, therapists, universities, NHS trusts and cultural institutions, based at Edge Hill University and the University of Salford. Salford’s contribution is led by Northern School Writer Professor Scott Thurston.

The team have developed a new evidence-based creative psychological therapy for depression in response to research and findings which point to a need for a helpful and alternative model of treatment for depression in the UK.

Arts for the Blues was originally designed to help tackle depression in adults in deprived areas of North West England and began in a primary mental health care setting in Manchester. Since then, the project has grown to deliver pilot projects in Liverpool, Manchester and surrounding areas. It has also been adapted for use with children, NHS clinical staff, carers, and mothers and babies.

Place Based Writing and Community History

Northern School Writer and Professor Dr Ursula Hurley has worked with communities in Salford for nearly two decades on a number of projects including the UKRI Maker Space Project investigating the uses of Digital Fabrication to tell the stories of differently abled people, and archival and community projects around the location of Peel Park, Salford. She has worked regularly with Salford Loaves and Fishes, who support homeless, isolated and vulnerable members of our community. Professor Hurley is currently rescuing stories from the archives of Peel Park to bring local history back to our community.

Organisation Language Consultancy

Dr Hazel Price has worked as a Language Consultant for several public, private and third-sector organisations. With a focus on raising language awareness, Hazel’s language consultancy work helps organisations achieve their long-term communication goals across internal and external communications. Hazel’s language consultancy work also helps companies manage and better understand client/stakeholder feedback via the use of sophisticated computational linguistic tools.