A powerful community arts project tackling stigma around substance use and recovery concluded with a special showcase event at Chesterfield FC, celebrating the voices and creativity of communities across Derbyshire.
The Stitch Away the Stigma quilt was originally developed by Natalie Needham, using creative expression to start important conversations about stigma, recovery, and the impact of substance use on individuals, families, and communities.
Through funding from Derbyshire County Council, Kelsey Family CIC was commissioned to bring the project to Derbyshire through a Stitch Away the Stigma Roadshow, delivering creative workshops and community engagement activities across the county.
The project invited people with lived and living experience of substance use, family members, and community allies to take part in craft-based workshops, sharing their stories while crafting new pieces.
Throughout the project, participants came together in safe and supportive spaces to reflect, create, and connect. Each piece represents a personal story — helping to challenge stereotypes and highlight the reality that recovery journeys exist in every community.
The quilt has now been passed on to York in Recovery. Following the transition of the quilt’s possession from Derbyshire to York, Steph Kelsey, director of Kelsey Family CIC, said: “The quilt, which we’ve kind of just had out on the field, looks absolutely amazing.
“It is a stitched blanket of stories. It represents individuals affected by substance use in multiple ways. It is a motive, it is a conversation starter, it is everything that we need to happen within those recovery spaces.
“We’ve certainly seen a shift over the past three years in regards to people opening up, feeling comfortable, feeling safe in spaces to share their stories. But we know that we need to do more.
“We have used the blanket over the past year to carry out workshops, to start these conversations, to create spaces where individuals feel safe enough to tell their story and to just open up.”
After receiving the quilt, John Turton, director of York in Recovery, said: “It’s great to meet so many friends and allies in Derbyshire, to see and witness all the fantastic work you all do here to support people through this illness and the progress you have made to drive down stigma in the society we live in.
“The damage stigma does to us all is heartbreaking and immense. We thank you for handing over this wall of living emotion. It will be on display at York for the launch of our attempt to be an inclusive recovery city.”
