At Changing Lives, we know that healing from trauma isn’t linear—and it doesn’t always happen in a therapy room. Sometimes, it begins with a needle and thread, a patch of felt, or a shared moment around a craft table. That’s the heart of Craft Matters, a powerful new research collaboration between researcher Faye Green, Changing Lives and Northumbria University, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Northern Bridge Consortium.
This project explored how craft can be embedded into trauma-informed support for women experiencing multiple forms of disadvantage. Conducted over a year in one of our Women’s Centre drop-ins, the research offers a compelling case for how creative practices can support emotional safety, empowerment, and recovery.
Crafting Change: Our Role in the Research
Changing Lives played a central role in this research—not just as a partner, but as a co-creator of the space where the work unfolded. Our drop-in services provided the setting for the study, where researcher Faye Green joined weekly sessions, crafting alongside women and staff. This immersive approach allowed for deep, relational insights into how craft can support trauma-informed practice.
Our staff teams supported in shaping the project, offering reflections, guidance, and support throughout. Their commitment to creating safe, welcoming environments enabled women to engage with craft in ways that were meaningful, empowering, and healing.
Craft and the Theory of Change
The report is structured around the four stages of our Theory of Change—Being, Becoming, Belonging, and Beyond—demonstrating how craft supports each phase:
- Being: Craft helped women feel safe and grounded. For Zoe, making a teddy bear during a police statement gave her a sense of control and calm in a deeply stressful moment.
- Becoming: Craft enabled women to process trauma. Jessica’s story of making a patchwork blanket for her child during adoption proceedings shows how creative expression can offer agency and dignity in the face of loss.
- Belonging: Craft fostered community. The collaborative creation of “The Tree” installation in the Women’s Centre became a living symbol of connection, co-production, and shared identity.
- Beyond: The report highlights what’s needed to sustain this work—time, resources, and a commitment to valuing creativity as a core part of trauma-informed support.
Why Craft Matters
Craft is often dismissed as “fluffy” or secondary to more formal interventions. But this research shows that craft is the work. It’s a tool for regulation, expression, connection, and transformation. It offers women safe ways to participate, to withdraw when needed, and to re-engage on their own terms.
At Changing Lives, we’re proud to be at the forefront of this innovative, human-centred approach. Craft Matters is more than a report—it’s a call to action to recognise the power of creativity in healing, and to invest in the spaces and people that make it possible.
