Next Saturday (13^th Sept 2025) will see my artist friend Liz Waddell and myself running the second in a series of ‘Connect with Nature‘ creative retreats we’re trialling at the activity centre in the grounds of Ulverscroft Manor in Markfield, Leics.

As friends for well over 30 years, Liz and I have worked with each other many times before, including on the true story of Loughborough’s own war horse, as well as, more recently, on a creative project for Culture Leicestershire.

We make a good team and enjoy working together, so we decided to trial some activities under our own banner, planned around the kinds of things we like to do when we get the urge to be creative and growing out of our personal belief that everyone has the capacity to be creative if given opportunity, some materials and the right encouragement.

So that’s what we did. Our first Creative Retreat was in June, set up as an ‘experiment’, as anything worthwhile in life should be. What was there to lose, we thought? Worse case scenario and should no-one else turn up, we two old friends would still have a day in the countryside together, painting, writing, eating Liz’s home-made cake and chatting (much, in fact, as we always do!)

But people did come, and the feedback we had from them, verbal and written – was both lovely to hear and very encouraging.

So we’re cracking on with the second session next Saturday, this time thinking about nature in Autumn. There are still some places available, so feel free to join us!

See booking website here.