Soft Ground: Textiles and Self-Soothing Workshop Series

Soft Ground is a four-month programme of free weekly drop-in textile-based art sessions, designed to support mental wellbeing through creativity, routine, and communal making.

Drawing from neurodivergent practices and trauma-informed methodologies, the sessions are open to all, with a particular welcome extended to neurodivergent participants. The programme offers a gentle, sensory-aware environment where participants can engage with textile processes at their own pace, using tactile making as a tool for self-soothing, co-regulation, and creative exploration.

Each two-hour session is led by a rotating group of women artists recognised for their inclusive practices and lived experience of neurodivergence: Kim Chin, Birungi Kawooya, Sue Mayo, and Jenny McIlhatton. Participants are invited to drop in, try different approaches to textile making, and take part in a supportive communal space focused on reducing isolation, building trust, and nurturing emotional wellbeing.

Sessions follow a consistent weekly format designed to create structure and accessibility, particularly for those who experience anxiety, sensory overload, or social isolation. While the programme centres neurodivergent experiences, it is open to anyone in the local community interested in creativity as a pathway to wellbeing.

All sessions take place at SET Social, our arts and social club in Peckham. Each session concludes with refreshments, creating a relaxed environment for conversation and connection.

Event details

Dates: Every Friday, from 20 February – 5 June
Times: 2-4pm
Where: SET Social, 55a Nigel Road, Peckham, SE15 4NP
Ticketing/registration: All workshops are free, available to book via Eventbrite.

Book ticket

Programme credits

Curated by Sylvia Keck, Community Engagement Curator at Looking Forward.

Realised in partnership with SET and with support from the National Lottery Community Fund.

About the organiser: Founded in 2019, Looking Forward works internationally across contemporary art, design, and socially engaged practices. As curators and cultural producers, they bring together artists, researchers, institutions, and publics through medium and long-term projects that span exhibitions, publishing, public programming, outreach, communication and critical research.