Daniel on helping other young people through creativity

Daniel was part of the team of talented young people who worked on the Creative Communities project. In the future, he’d like to use his writing and horticulture to help people with their mental health.

I started on the project at Peckham Levels at the first workshop. At first, I was kind of to myself, because I didn’t know anyone there. But then as we started working, I kind of clicked with some people.

Everyone played their own part. Some people have that gift of being good at drawing. I’m more like a poet so that’s how I contributed – the actual words in the comic book. And what makes it much more special is that collaborative effort – more special than it just being, ‘here’s the artist, just throw in some ideas, and they’ve done it, bingo!’ I feel confident that everyone got their voices heard. I was actually amazed at how well it turned out!

The most challenging part was when the work kind of brought some things up, but I know it was for a good cause. I felt supported. I’d go out for a walk. I think what was comforting as well is that everyone else there shared similar experiences.

I always enjoyed going to the group. Even apart from the project itself, with the actual social aspect of it, I feel like I’ve made a little clique. I’ve genuinely made a level of friendship with some people, which even surprises me because I feel that at times, I can be quite distant from everyone.

A group of us went to Oxford. It felt nice showing off our comic and by doing that, I felt like I was taking ownership of some of the experiences I went through. It was such a narrative shift. Other than it being, ‘Here’s my experience, it was a bad time in my life’, now I can have a different perspective where it can potentially help others.

I think just letting whoever is out there, whoever is really struggling with mental health or self-harm – I know it sounds pretty cliché – but just letting them know that they’re not alone, I think that’s a big thing.