I have joined SCIP's Sketchbook Challenge. The challenge is to fill an entire sketchbook by February!

I believe that getting the opportunity to be creative should not be seen as a luxury or a privilege, so I have joined the challenge to support SCIP, a charity which provides safe, inclusive spaces for young people to express themselves through art.

I'm also doing this to get back into the swing of drawing and painting, something I haven't done for over 30 years, ever since I entered the world of work. In focussing on all that we have to do to earn a living, it is so easy to forget about the joy of creating stuff and trying things out. The creative process is always a bit unpredictable, and half of the fun is seeing where things take you.

One of my friends took on the challenge last year, and when I saw the exhibition at the Crypt gallery my view of what a sketchbook could be was fundamentally changed. There were so many different ideas and abilities represented. The challenge wasn't just getting the sketchbooks filled, it was also putting yourself "out there" for other people to see and to judge that could be scary. What I saw inspired me to just have a go. So let's see what happens....