CAST Poetry Anthology

CAST (Creative Arts Support Team) are a mental health support group based in Sheffield, UK. The volunteer-run service runs art and creative writing workshops for mental health service users. I began volunteering for CAST as a university student, and decided to help them collate their poems and creative works into an anthology.​​​​​​​ During my time volunteering, I found the concept of home came up regularly in our creative work, and so we decided as a group to make this the theme of the anthology. Neil, the group leader, came up with the name of the anthology, 'Keys to the Door'. I even contributed one of my own poems, at the insistence of the group! The sheer talent of this group is astounding, and it was an extremely enjoyable process collating the anthology. My ultimate aim became creating a design for the book that only emphasised the work instead of taking away from it. Colour became a cornerstone, and I chose typefaces that would be both beautiful and accessible for all ages and abilities. Another benefit of putting this anthology together was that they could use it to fundraise with. So far, the group have raised over £400 for the upkeep of CAST through the sale of 'Keys to the Door', and the group are now inspired to create the next instalment. Overall, I hope I helped the group feel a sense of achievement in their work, as well as leaving them with something permanent, something that they can continue to fundraise with and benefit from into the future.