Creative Recovery

Rewilding the Mind (3 of 6) took us to Worsbrough Reservoir today - and what a wonderful walk it was!

We began with our now-traditional land art activity, creating a beautiful sunburst from found natural materials. It even included a few peanuts that someone had thoughtfully left out for the birds!

We were treated to poetry from Winston, and his wife, Gaia, shared one of her own creations.

Winston also introduced us to a new word: hierophany, which means the manifestation of the sacred in everyday life and the physical world. This sparked some thoughtful conversations.

Along the way, we enjoyed both the natural and man-made landscapes around the reservoir, discovered a song thrush egg, and solved the mystery of some unusual trees (they turned out to be a black cherry!).

And, as tradition now seems to demand, we finished our walk at the tea rooms with well-earned ice creams.

Same time, same place next week, but we'll be walking anticlockwise to discover a whole new perspective on the route. We can't wait to see what we'll find!

Winston Plowes - Land Artist

We had another wonderful Wordy Wander with Winston Plowes - Land Artist this afternoon at Locke Park.

We created another land art - rectangular this time, (dictated by the cleavers (sticky buds) which refused to create a circle!), wandered along the paths, marvelled at nobbly trees, heard poems about dogs and ice creams, and shared stories along the way.

A gentle meander into the weekend!

Oh what a beautiful evening at The Carers Garden!

There was sunshine (and a little rain), drawing, singing, dancing and lots of laughter!

We know how to do summer evenings!

Thanks to The Carer’s Garden - Barnsley for having us, and Chris Mcshane Music for the tunes.

Last week, Jemma and Emma from the Libraries NPO Team went to Amsterdam to represent Barnsley Libraries and Creative Recovery at the Europe Challenge Conference. Over three days, library workers, community organisers, policymakers and funders from 20+ countries met for the final summit of the 2025/26 European Challenge to share ideas and learn from each other.

Barnsley Libraries’ project “It Only Takes One Seed”, in partnership with Creative Recovery, has looked at the importance of protecting nature and spreading seeds of hope. The project has seen lots of artistic activity including workshops with international artist Morag Myerscough who worked with our communities to create placards with hopeful messages for nature which are on display at Library @ the Lightbox.

Have a look at the project highlight reel here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEHfiEBba24

Selected from over 300 applications, the participating 60 libraries are already doing remarkable things in their community: responding to social, digital and environmental challenges in real, local, tangible ways. The summit was about bringing that work into conversation across Europe.

Arts Council England

What a wonderful Wordy Wander with Winston we had this afternoon in Locke Park!

We took our time to notice things that often get overlooked when rushing about, learned about some plants, heard some poetry, and we also made this land art from found natural items (and wooden cutlery), then topped off the fun with an ice cream.

What better way to spend a Friday?

Winston Plowes - Land Artist

A great end to a wonderful with Barnsley Libraries We Great Ladies and

More nature inspired creativity with Barnsley Libraries ‘One Seed’ project, climate placards exhibition, design your own seed packet, flower sketching with Anna Connor and a merry team of creative recovery helpers making seed papers to plant at home.

Also a chance to escape for a moment of nature inspired calm with headsets playing 2 of creative recovery’s nature meditations. 💚

Lots going on!