Crafting
‘Arts and crafts offer a creative outlet for expressing emotions that might otherwise remain unspoken. Through artistic activities, individuals can externalise complex emotions . . . By focusing on creative expression, those involved can achieve a sense of cathartic release. This can significantly enhance emotional well-being and facilitate personal insight into emotional challenges.'
Ella Thompson 11.9.25 Arts & Crafts A Path to Mental Health Recovery
It is a well-known fact that crafting can offer a tremendous sense of well-being, even if you do not consider yourself to be particularly skilled in creative arts! Our workshops can be booked as education or community events, take place in partnership with museums visited as part of The Richmond Purple Poppies Tour, or support talks and lectures. Interested? Contact northerndonks@gmail.com
Our approach, ‘commemoration through crafting’ is somewhat multi-layered, offering:
- Focus on the act of remembrance exploring stories of stories of great loss and, at times, unexpected happiness
- Opportunities to apply crafting to our own situations: perhaps of personal loss or, quite simply, a desire to step away from the ordinary and enter the extraordinary world of creativity
- A chance to develop existing practices and/or encounter new skills.
Designed and created by Burnham GrammarSchool’s Design & Technology Club inSlough, Poppy the Horse’s Head has beenwith us since 2025 and admired greatly by allwho see her.
We believe that there is much to be gained from getting together with friends, old and new, to gently mull over the amazing feats of animals past and in more recent times that have bravely stood alongside our military personnel, whilst we sketch, paint, appliqué, crochet, knit, make a collage or craft a delicate tissue poppy. The outcome doesn’t need to be a masterpiece – although they all too often are in their own unique manner – it’s the process and all it brings with it that can be so illuminating!
In 2026 The Northern Region of the Donkey Breed Society created a Quilt to commemorate all animals that have taken part in conflicts around the world . . . beautiful pieces were sent in from makers of all ages and from across the globe.
The Quilt became a wall-hanging and debuted at The Rifles Berkshire & Wiltshire Museum, Salisbury in the summer of 2026. It contains fine examples of all sorts of stitching, appliqué, mini-collage and even bobbin work. Our grateful thanks to everyone who took part – you are all amazing and wonderfully creative.
For some time now we have been running workshops for International War Animal Day that ask participants to creatively place a design upon a small T-light holder and pop a T-light in it so that they may ‘Shine a Light’ of remembrance on International War Animal Day. In 2025 and 2026, donations from this Workshop have supported the creation of a silhouette of a donkey that from September 2026 will stand proudly at the International War Animal Memorial at Pozières, on the Somme, in France.
It is sometimes uncomfortable and unfathomable finding out about the horrors of war faced by our animal allies and that is why, we must never stop finding ways in which we can remember them and keep their bravery not only in the forefront of our minds but in the minds of those that follow us.