Art & Craft Supplies for Good

Volunteer Opportunities
& Student Placements
🤝

Supporting Mental Health

Our perspective on creative self-care is rooted in research and backed by personal experience; finding meaningful, practical ways to nurture our own wellbeing and build resilience. 

Artists and crafters know that creativity does something for them, it helps them get lost in what they are doing: they forget their troubles for a while or find space to work things out.

The problem is, what if you can't afford lots of lovely art and craft supplies?  Creative self-care is harder if you just don't have access to supplies...

...and yet, at the same time lots of perfectly usable supplies are being thrown away for various reasons, including by businesses who don't know where to send their surplus so it can be put it to good use.

So we connect them together.

Psychology & Practical Action

Our thinking around creative self-care is heavily influenced by evidence-based research and practical self-care tools from the field of Positive Psychology, which is absolutely not just about 'positive thinking' by the way, but instead focuses on fostering what’s best within us.

Using Your Character Strengths

Discovering your character strengths is foundational: once you know what your 'superpowers' are, you can then start using them in daily life and to cope with challenges.

Action for Happiness
& The 5 Ways to Wellbeing

Similarly, Action for Happiness promotes practical actions that cultivate happiness and purpose, emphasising self-care and connection with others.  They have a free app, online course, monthly videos and a calendar all bursting with tips and techniques to help you feel better in yourself. 

The 5 Ways to Wellbeing provides a practical framework often used by voluntary organisations and local health authorities to promote evidence-based strategies to boost mental health through self-care. 

Together, all these approaches support a flourishing life through creativity, reflection, and meaningful engagement.

5 Ways to Wellbeing

• Connect
  
• Be Active
• Take Notice
• Keep Learning
• Give

Art Therapy & Expressive Art

Art therapy and the expressive arts offer creative outlets that enhance emotional resilience and self-awareness, often delivered by qualified therapists and facilitators, but they are also a tool in your creative self-care toolbox, plus these days there are many online resources which now make Art Therapy, art 'as' therapy and expressive art more accessible and affordable to greater numbers of people.

Environmentally Driven

It's extremely important to us that we're as eco-friendly as possible in all we do, from recycling and diverting unwanted creative supplies from landfill, to using recycled, ethical or sustainable goods and services. 

So far, we've diverted over 7.8 tonnes of unwanted art and craft 'waste' from potentially going to landfill*

Donations on Hold

*Apologies: we cannot take donations at the moment, our storage is full.

These links let you check places local to you, so you can still put your donations to good use:

• My local charity shops
• My local community groups
• My local residential homes
• My local hospices
• My local churches

NonProfit
& Community Benefit 

100%
All income is reinvested into our social purpose

Business for Good

Crafting4Good CIC is a nonprofit 'Community Interest Company' which exists to benefit the community. 

Also known as a Social Enterprise, it means we 'trade' as a business purely for 'good' social reasons.

• We generate income from unwanted art and craft supplies, donated by artists, crafters and businesses.
   
• We create jobs, young people's work experience and volunteer opportunities.
   
• Surplus is given for free to local community organisations supporting children and adults, mostly in underprivileged areas.

The more income we generate from 'waste' and unwanted arts and crafts, the more people will benefit and the bigger impact we can have on mental health and society. 

Affordable Supplies

Whatever your budget, we have creative goodies for you or your community group:

• eBay shop
  Bundles, bargains and collectibles as we unearth them from storage
  
  
• Printable Activities
  Instant downloads for crafters and groups - including free printables

Volunteer Opportunities
& Student Placements

We have various volunteer opportunities to help us sort donations, distribute supplies to groups, as well as eBay Assistants and some remote volunteering you can do from home.

Volunteer Opportunities - Local & Remote