Health & well-being

2024, Pearly King of Eccles, Tunny Scaffolding Ltd.

As we move into the second quarter of the 21st Century, cases of anxiety, stress and poor mental health have grown enormously and there are many strategies connected to self-care and the well-being industry. Hand stitch is a positive, flexible and inclusive strategy that I have employed over many years and its value is becoming more widely acknowledged. Since 2020 I worked with the construction industry to raise awareness of the high suicide rate in this sector.

2021, Safety Net, testing compositions at Manchester Metropolitan University.
2021, Safety Net. ‘There is no health without mental health’ was created with Tunny Scaffolding.
2009, Respect and Protect, made with Professor Jo Verran and communities across Manchester for World Aids Day. Collection of the Terrence Higgins Trust, London.
2022, Mental Health. Letters from Safety Net reused at the Dr Guslain Museum in Ghent, an old mental health asylum. On loan to the Dr Guslain Museum.
World Wellbeing Map. A co-creation with English learners at Oldham Library. A monumental wellbeing embroidery made from recycled materials. It utilises hand stitch as an inclusive mental health strategy, and the outcome, a tactile artwork, raises awareness of the climate crisis. Film credit: Paul Daly.
Safety Net was an Arts Council funded project from Oct 2021. It raises awareness of the high suicide rate in the construction industry and was a partnership with Tunny Scaffolding. Film credit: Mary Stark.

Posts about my work in health & well-being

  • Exhibition. Connecting Threads at fashion textile museum
    A few images from the opening of my exhibition, Connecting Threads, at Fashion Textile Museum, London, 2025.
  • Connecting Threads – tactile social history – new publication Jan 25
    My new book, Connecting Threads tactile social history brings together twelve of my textile projects produced between 1981 and 2024. These social history documents provide tactile evidence of untold stories, people and places through stitch and the work is both personal and political.
  • The Global Quilt
    Global Connections is a repurposed quilt created for the British Textile Biennial, exhibited at the Whitaker Gallery in Rawtenstall (Oct-Nov 2021). Made from over 1200 fabric circles, the quilt incorporates materials from 20 countries, crafted with local community groups in Rossendale and Manchester. It celebrates the global connectivity of cloth.
  • Safety Net – 2021
    My Safety Net project aimed to raise awareness about mental health in the construction industry. Featuring large-scale banners in Manchester and Salford, the installation, created with young people from 42 Street and Manchester School of Art students, highlights the sector’s mental health crisis, urging reflection and action.