Rising hate crime. St. Georges flags. Shamefully large protests in our capital city, as well as elsewhere. People of Colour and other identities are living in fear. It’s a lot. 

Connection is both the short and the long-term solution. In the here and now, we need connection within and between communities to create joy, hope, resilience, and to heal. Looking at the bigger picture, togetherness also provides the conditions we need to change the system that is creating these problems in the first place.

Poetry has magical powers. Writing and absorbing poetry heals us - helping us to access and process our emotions, connect with ourselves and reclaim our narratives. Poetry also has a unique  way of creating connection and understanding, including between those from different lived experiences. In this way, poetry has a powerful and wondrous role to play in undoing the pandemic of loneliness we are experiencing as a society, as well as fostering a sense of togetherness, which is so desperately needed in today’s divided world.

Writing, sharing and playing with poetry can build connection and togetherness within communities, in our places of work, and places of learning.

Our Togetherness Poetry Workshops are delivered as an adaptable 2-3 hour-long session through which participants explore the concepts behind the Togetherness movement, play with words, bond with others, craft a poem, and share with one another.

Having noticed the magic of poetry in bringing us together, we founded the Togetherness Poetry Challenge, a national competition which invites anyone and everyone to write and share a poem under the theme of togetherness. 

The Poetry Challenge is special because it’s so inclusive. As well as creating a platform for professional poets and emerging talent, it strongly encourages those who have never written a poem to participate in the challenge. The poetry workshops grew out of a desire to go one step further - we don’t just want to encourage people to write their first poems, we want to actively support them. So we developed the poetry workshops and have been delivering them across the country to a wide range of people and groups.

The workshops create an honest and soothing space to play with poetry - whilst bringing about connection, unlocking a new creative outlet for those who have never tried their hand at poetry, and fostering hope. They are designed to be adapted for different peopleand organisations and on different themes, so we can work with you pitch it perfectly for the people you work with. Participants of the workshops are invited to participate in the Poetry Challenge, but there is no expectation or obligation to.

Workshops are typically led by Ovyuki, our Togetherness Poetry Challenge partner and our ‘resident poet’, and supported by Natasha, Founder Director at CST.

The Togetherness Poetry Challenge invites anyone and everyone to write and share a poem under the theme of togetherness. The aim is to support people to use the power of poetry to connect with themselves, as well as build understanding solidarity across communities.

The Challenge is delivered in partnership with Hidden Literature and judged by a panel of professional and community-orientated poets.

Our first Poetry Challenge launched in 2024 and we received over 500 poems, the best of which are published online in our Digital Anthology.. In 2025 the theme was ‘Decolonising Minds and Shared Identities’ and received over 1000 poems! We  plan to take a ‘fallow year’ in 2026 and spend the year delivering as many poetry workshops as possible ready to come back bigger and better than ever in 2027!

Anyone! Charities working with vulnerable people, community organisations bringing together particular types of people, or larger organisations in search of an away day or team building activity that offers something a little bit different. We’ve run poetry workshops with mothers, men, university students, older people with mobility issues, people recovering from drug and alcohol issues, and more. The workshop is inherently adaptable.

We can deliver the workshop for you, or we can support you to do so so that you build skills and capacity. Over the last two years since founding the Togetherness Poetry Challenge, we have been supporting organisations working with different communities of people to put on their own Togetherness Poetry Workshops, with our support. As Natasha puts it “We come with a loose plan for how a workshop can look, ready to be shaped and steered by you to maximise its usefulness to you.”