Join Teddy Bear Josh and Joe to tackle the taboos around loss and turn private pain into shared healing.

Join Teddy and Joe for a series of welcoming, creative Queer Craft Club sessions as part of Good Grief Blackpool.

Through gentle, accessible crafting, we'll create space to connect, reflect and share in a relaxed and supportive environment, exploring themes of loss, memory, resilience and chosen family.

Whether you're a regular at Queer Craft Club or joining us for the first time, these sessions offer a chance to make, chat and spend time with others in the LGBTQIA+ community.

In this session

Transform a piece of felt into a token of remembrance.

Led by Joe, this session invites you to craft a personalized, hand-embroidered key charm that anchors you to a loved one.

Whether you are honouring someone you have lost, celebrating a person far away, or creating a quiet tribute, this workshop offers a gentle, creative space to channel your feelings into a tangible keepsake.

Ways to personalise your charm

No embroidery experience is needed. Joe will guide you through simple techniques to weave personal meaning into every stitch using elements like:

Memory Colours: Choose felt and threads that match their favourite shirt, their eye colour, or a season you shared.

Textured Stories: Blend the felt with different stitch techniques to create depth and texture. Reflect a personality trait, a hobby, or the comfort of a familiar blanket.

Symbolic Motifs: Stitch a tiny constellation, a favourite flower, an initial, or a coordinate of a place you both loved.

Keep your loved one close wherever you go, carry your memories on your keys, your bag, or safe in your pocket.

All materials will be provided as well as refreshments.

Suitable for adults 18+

This will be a safe space to share stories and conversations about loved ones if you wish to.

The artwork created during the sessions will form part of a special display during the Good Grief Festival, honouring the stories, memories and often unseen experiences of LGBTQIA+ grief.

Please be aware:

This session may be recorded for sound or vision as part of the Good Grief Festival. Permissions will be requested at the start of the event.

Listening Ears will be attending the session to supply support if needed

This session is in our upstairs workshop space. We have a lift! Otherwise it is fourteen steps turn a corner and two more steps. There is an accessible loo on the same floor.

GETTING HERE

Tram & Train to Blackpool North Station

Bus: No 6 or 18 to Topping St., No 3, 3a, 5c, 6, 18 to Church St (Stanley Buildings), No 5, 5a, 5b, 6, 7a, 14 to Talbot Rd

Driving: The closest pay and display car parks are on East Topping St and Talbot Road multi storey. There is also parking at the nearby Sainsbury’s supermarket, please make sure that you check the terms before you use the car park.

Description supplied by the event organiser.