It's Not Your Birthday But

It's Not Your Birthday But It’s Not Your Birthday But... is all about connecting people through letters, words and visual arts. Ever received a handwritten letter you weren't expecting?

We celebrate creativity and use it to share whatever is important or helpful to us and to others. It’s Not Your Birthday But... champions the power of the mighty pen. Why wait for someone's birthday to let them know they are loved or appreciated? Feels good doesn't it? In this digital world where everyone sees and shares everything, we're all for championing the pen and the good it can bring to people in your street or on the other side of the world. We work with writers and artists in a range of settings where we explore how using our own creativity can help us or others. To date we've worked in schools, care homes, prisons, hospitals, refuges, community groups and hospices. The arts provide accessible ways for people to connect as equals, tell the world how it is, share stories and experiences, challenge preconceptions and build empathy. Do get in touch if you'd like to get involved. By letter of course. Although we have been known to respond to digital missives!

🎨 What Keeps Us Well is now showing at Kingston Hospital! 💛 A new version of our What Keeps Us Well exhibition is now on...
28/08/2026

🎨 What Keeps Us Well is now showing at Kingston Hospital! 💛

A new version of our What Keeps Us Well exhibition is now on display at the Link Gallery at Kingston Hospital, and will be showing until the end of October.

The project explores how people have kept themselves well in the past, how we keep ourselves well today, and how we might do so in the future. Through artwork, writing and archival material, the exhibition brings together personal stories, creative responses and historical records to explore experiences of care, connection and belonging.

And there’s even more creativity to discover! The exhibition sits opposite artwork created by students at Kingston University as part of their Future Skills Initiative, meaning the corridor is full of creativity to patients, staff and visitors to enjoy.

We’re so pleased to share artwork in this space, and hope that this exhibition offers a moment to pause, reflect and connect.

📍Kingston Hospital - Link Gallery
📅 Tuesday 25th August - Sunday 25th October 2026

A big thanks to The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust 🙏🏻

Hospital

Sweet Potato Surprise 🍠 Lucky Charm 🍀 Feather Grass 🌾 This week, we worked alongside young people in Bognor to explore t...
28/08/2026

Sweet Potato Surprise 🍠 Lucky Charm 🍀 Feather Grass 🌾

This week, we worked alongside young people in Bognor to explore the power of colour. How can different colours impact how we feel? And how can thoughtful colour choices help to transform a space?

We also explored abstract artworks, storytelling and building narratives, alongside some creative clay making. Ideas are definitely starting to emerge for what our final artwork for the custody suite might look like - with brilliant input, ideas and perspectives from the young people involved.

There are lots of exciting ideas taking shape, and we can’t wait to see how they develop and come together in the final artworks!

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We’re really pleased to be a part of a meaningful creative project with young people from West Sussex Youth Justice Serv...
18/08/2026

We’re really pleased to be a part of a meaningful creative project with young people from West Sussex Youth Justice Service, in collaboration with Artswork Artswork in Arun , helping to redesign a youth custody suite in Worthing later this year.

Over the past few weeks we have been running weekly creative workshops, creating space for young people to explore ideas, experiment with different materials and have their voices meaningfully heard in shaping a space they may experience themselves or that others may experience in the future.

From marbling and mark making to fanzines, collage and drawing techniques, we’ve had a jam packed few weeks of art making, conversation and collaboration with more still to come! 🎨 🖍️ ✂️

We’re excited to keep building on the ideas that have emerged so far and see how the young people’s creativity, perspectives and imagination come together to shape the final design. We hope that it leads to a space that feels considered, supportive and positive for those who use it.

We’re so excited to share that our Summer Showcase is now on display at Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre for the next 2 weeks...
07/08/2026

We’re so excited to share that our Summer Showcase is now on display at Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre for the next 2 weeks! 🖼️ ✨

The exhibition brings together a powerful collection of artwork that celebrates diverse voices and perspectives from the community groups we work alongside. We support people who are most impacted by isolation and by societal tendencies to other, marginalise and label.

This collection of artwork is a testament to our belief that creativity flourishes wherever people are. Art has the power to connect us, provide space for expression, and strengthen collective wellbeing.

Featured artists include older adults who are unable to leave their homes - including the incredible 102 year old Ken and his beautiful watercolour flowers - alongside young adults from HMP & YOI Feltham, people on probation and NHS attendees.

The exhibition is on until Friday 21st August, so if you’re nearby, we’d love for you to stop in and celebrate the creativity of these artists with us!

Thanks to Elmbridge Borough Council and Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre for their support of this exhibition 💛

Excited to be hosting card making at Romany Day with The Hive Guildford today. Lots of activities, live music and mor...
27/06/2026

Excited to be hosting card making at Romany Day with The Hive Guildford today. Lots of activities, live music and more at The Hive, Park Barn Drive, Guildford until 330pm today. Come on down….

What a wonderful day we had yesterday, celebrating our What Keeps Us Well project exhibition 💛🎉We brought our project co...
06/05/2026

What a wonderful day we had yesterday, celebrating our What Keeps Us Well project exhibition 💛🎉

We brought our project community partners together at for an afternoon of creating, and an evening of art and poetry, celebrating the What Keeps Us Well project and open call artists.

In the afternoon, , GRT and Woking Youth groups were invited to explore the exhibition of their artwork and create alongside one another. We created teabags as thoughtful gifts for others, fanzines inspired by the exhibition, and we had the brilliant Kat sharing her craft and teaching us all how to paint traditional canal boat roses.

What a joy to see everyone coming together again to share their heritage, culture and creativity. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who has contributed to this project - especially the community groups who have helped to shape it from the start!

30/04/2026

NOW OPEN: WHAT KEEPS US WELL? 🍃

Come along to The Surrey History Centre for our FREE exhibition, open until Thursday 28th May 2026.

Explore an inspiring collection of local and international creative responses to local heritage, including poetry, photography, ceramic artworks and more - each offering a unique perspective on well-being.

This exhibition has been created and made possible through the generous support of .

✨ Thrive Together ✨We’re so proud to share this beautiful artwork, co-created by an incredible group of women we’ve been...
28/01/2026

✨ Thrive Together ✨

We’re so proud to share this beautiful artwork, co-created by an incredible group of women we’ve been working with, alongside the local council and GP surgery. Through reflection on wellbeing, strength, and hope for change, each element tells a personal story of challenge, growth, and new beginnings - woven together into one shared vision.

You can see the artwork on display at for the next two weeks, before it becomes a permanent legacy piece in the women’s GP surgery 💛

📣 Calling all creatives ✨⁠⁠⁠We’ve been so delighted by all the brilliant entries coming in for our What Keeps Us Well Op...
16/01/2026

📣 Calling all creatives ✨⁠
⁠⁠
We’ve been so delighted by all the brilliant entries coming in for our What Keeps Us Well Open Call that we’ve decided to give everyone a little extra time! The new deadline is 11:59 pm on Saturday, 1 February. We would especially love to hear from young people and children between the ages of 11 - 18, so if you’ve been thinking about taking part, now’s the perfect moment to get involved!
⁠
🌿 “Woven into the days of stress, ⁠
the golden threads of thankfulness.”🌿⁠
⁠
Taking inspiration from these lines of a poem by A.F. Freeman found in the Surrey Heritage Centre Archives, all creatives can respond with visual art or written submissions. With categories for under-18s and over-18s.⁠
⁠
🎨✍️ Free entry for all. Entrants can submit multiple pieces of work to more than one category.⁠

🏆 Prizes include: cash prize + inclusion in exhibition + exclusive archive access ⁠

📅 Deadline: Sunday 1st February 2026, 11:59 pm ⁠
👉 Head over to https://inybb.com/what-keeps-us-well for more info ⁠and to find out how to enter

Address

The Old Bank House, 26 Station Approach
Hinchley Wood
KT100SR

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