When Words Begin to Flow: A Carer’s Creative Journey

Unpaid Carer Mandy shares how a creative writing workshop helped her process her caring journey, rediscover poetry, and find the confidence to share her voice.

Creativity and the Caring Journey
For many unpaid Carers, creativity can offer a rare moment to pause, reflect, and express feelings that are often difficult to put into words. This World Poetry Day, we are sharing Mandy Flanagan’s story — a powerful reminder of how creativity can support wellbeing, connection, and resilience while caring for a loved one.

Stepping Into the Caring Role
When Mandy’s father died unexpectedly in 2014, her life changed overnight. He had been the main Carer for Mandy’s mother, and Mandy stepped into the role while continuing to work part time. Over the years she balanced work and caring responsibilities, until her mum was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2021 and Mandy became a full-time Carer.

Like many Carers, Mandy often found that her own needs came second. But when she saw a free Creative Workshop offered through Forward Carers — funded by The National Lottery Community Fund — she decided to take a chance and attend. What followed became a turning point, helping her reconnect with writing, process her experiences, and eventually begin sharing her poetry with others.

Mandy shares the impact the creative writing course has had on her caring journey.

Mandy’s Story

I was extremely excited to join the Creative Writing course, I’d not really written anything for a very long time, but thought it would be a therapeutic thing to do. As a full time carer I am aware of the activities on offer, but find it difficult to decide which ones to take part in. Even when I have chosen to do activities, something can happen last minute and I may not get there. It’s the nature of caring. 

During the first creative writing session I found that words just started to flow and I ended up writing two poems! Writing is a good way of putting words around feelings and emotions, it’s really cathartic and a great way of processing feelings.

Attending the creative writing sessions allowed me to look back at when I first noticed the change in mum when I knew it wasn’t just old age. It was there I wrote The Blue Cardigan and Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Writing gave me the tool to explore how I felt back then when I wasn’t able to acknowledge how I was really feeling at the time.

Trying Something New

I missed the second session as I had already booked to take Mom away on holiday. After this, the meeting date and venue had changed. I turned up expecting to write and there was a table set of art materials! This was definitely not ‘my thing’ and I was really disappointed.

Charlotte from Unravelled Mind encouraged me to ‘have a go’, Mom was sorted, I’d made time to come to the session and I’d found a parking space so I put aside my grumpiness and decided to join in. I really couldn’t see myself being able to create a piece of artwork with mixed media, but Charlotte gave us prompts.

I started with small pencil drawing, and then started tearing pieces from magazines that seemed to speak about my caring role. Charlotte told us that we couldn’t really do ‘anything wrong’ and to just keep working on our pieces. The artwork would evolve as we continued to use the materials in front of us. By the end of the session, I’d managed half a picture. Of course, I returned the next week to finish the piece! 

This is what I created – it’s title is Overwhelm – I became a Carer overnight after my dad passed. This piece reflects the fear and weight of sudden responsibility. 

Processing Emotions Through Art

I found the process cathartic after experiencing a very difficult period where Mom was in and out of hospital. 

I remember feeling extremely tired and worried about leaving her. During the second session I also produced another piece of art entitled Despair and Joy, it reminds Carers not to let hardship steal their joy.

When I put the two pictures side by side, I could see that my mood had really changed. I was feeling a lot more relaxed and hopeful.

The Power of Connecting with Other Carers

As well as expressing myself through these mixed media pieces, I started to chat to other carers. Hearing about other people’s journeys is really helpful. Although many of my friends are sympathetic, it’s other carers that realise the ups and downs of the journey you are on. 

I submitted some of my artwork and poems to the Forward Carers exhibition in the Birmingham Museum Art Gallery and was pleased that some were chosen.

I know that I lack confidence, but this was a turning point. I’d been wondering whether it would be helpful for other people to read poems that I’d written?

Sharing My Voice

I made the decision to start sharing my poems on social media (Facebook and Instagram) and my friend helped me launch a website all in time for the exhibition launch in August.

Whatever we go through in life, we are not the only ones, other people are going through things too. If we have access to social media, there is a lot ‘out there’ to engage with. Some is helpful. Some, not so much. Others, not at all! My aim is to just share my experiences and maybe the words that I share will encourage someone else.

Since then, I attended another writing group where a publisher paid us a visit. He said that he would be interested in publishing my poems in a book if I can increase my following on social media so I’m really hoping that this will take off. It would be amazing to see my poems actually published in a book!

Thank you to all the people at Forward Carers for the support that you have given me in so many ways. And, for you carers out there, sometimes help doesn’t always look like what you expect it to. You are not alone.

How to Support Mandy and other Carers

You can read more of Mandy’s poetry on her website, as well as on Instagram and Facebook. . If you would like to support her journey and help her move closer to that book publishing opportunity, please like, follow and share her work on social media.

If you missed the exhibition at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, you can still explore the artwork and poems created by Carers here.

The National Lottery Community Fund also supported Barefoot Yoga Birmingham’s Carer wellbeing workshops which encouraged reflection, journaling and storytelling. The powerful stories of unpaid Carers from this project have since been published in a book, now available to buy in the Museum shop. Every purchase helps support services for Carers, creating even more opportunities for unpaid Carers to be heard, valued and supported.

#WorldPoetryDay

Thank you to The National Lottery Community Fund, Unravelled Mind Studio and Barefoot Yoga Birmingham