CoActive is a local charity that celebrates and develops the creativity and supports the wellbeing of people with learning disabilities. Weekly creative workshops build a safe and supported place to belong and develop skills. Public performances and exhibitions provide opportunities to share skills and experiences, celebrating the creativity of learning disabled people with the wider community. All sessions are led by the learning disabled members' interests and experiences, and are facilitated by professional artists. Together they form a creative community which positively impacts individual's lives and the cultural life of Wakefield District.
What we do: CoActive improves the wellbeing of people with a learning disability, enlarging their worlds through creative activity, enabling them to live full and active lives in community.
Why we do it: CoActive challenges low aspirations, low self esteem/confidence, low expectations of personal skills and creativity, from people with a learning disability themselves and the wider community. CoActive champions the voices of people with a learning disability and their carers, who are often not heard/facilitated within their own settings and even less so within society. CoActive puts a spotlight on the creative contribution of people with a learning disability as audiences and artists, because their creativity is undervalued and underrepresented in our culture.
How we do it: CoActive deliver creative skills workshops, collaborative group work and 1:1 personal and creative development opportunities. Regular steering group sessions help us to work together to plan and discuss organisational and artistic decisions, ensuring members are consulted in a meaningful way. Public performance and exhibition in partnership with other arts and disability organisations help us to reach a wider audience, and to engage our members with other creative activities as audiences and artists. Partnership working with other organisations supports members' personal development, shares experiences and elevates their voices beyond CoActive.
