Asthma can affect anyone, but where you live, how old you are and how much money you have can all affect your chances of developing asthma and the care you receive. These health inequalities can have a big impact on people with asthma. We’re aiming to raise awareness of the hidden and misunderstood impacts of asthma as well as current research into the condition.

If you’re a woman with experience of asthma and health inequalities and you’d like to share your story with others, we’d love to hear from you.

Do you enjoy creativity, craft and making things?

In the project you’ll take part in a series of creative workshops and share your experiences of asthma through embroidery, pottery and jewellery making. You’ll also be hearing from other women whose lives are affected by asthma and researchers who study asthma.

How you could benefit from taking part:

• Meeting other women affected by asthma and learning from their experiences
• Meeting researchers who study asthma and finding out more about how asthma affects people
• Learning new creative skills such as knitting, pottery and photography
• Having fun in a relaxed and friendly creative group
• You’ll be paid £25 per hour for taking part in the project workshops

How to get involved and find out more:

Please complete this online form by Friday 2nd of June at 10 am.

Contact Paula via phone on 01695 550 772 or email paula@the-sewing-rooms.co.uk to find out more about the project. You can also contact Paolo on paolo.arru@mft.nhs.uk if you need any help completing the form.

Dates of the sessions

Please note, to take part in this project you’ll need to be available for the planned sessions. There will also be three shorter online workshops in June/July, and more workshops in September/October but the dates/times for these are still to be confirmed.

First session: Saturday 24th June, 12pm - 5pm (lunch included), face to face

How you could benefit from taking part

• Meeting other women affected by asthma and learning from their experiences
• Meeting researchers who study asthma and finding out more about how asthma affects people
• Learning new creative skills such as knitting, pottery and photography
• Having fun in a relaxed and friendly creative group
• If after the taster sessions you take part in the project, you’ll be paid £25 per hour for attending the workshops

We want to make sure that women who experience health inequalities are involved in this project. For example you may have experienced:

• Difficulties accessing care and treatment
• Experience of poor quality care and treatment
• Poor living conditions such as damp housing
• Living in a place with high air pollution

Health inequalities can also be affected by factors such as

• How much money you have
• Your ethnicity
• If you have disabilities
• If you’re LGBTQ+

How we’ll support you to take part

• Ensuring an inclusive and welcoming space for everyone
• Providing training to increase your confidence using Zoom for the online workshops
• Lending you a tablet to take part in online workshops if you don’t have a computer
• Providing a quiet and comfortable space to take part in online workshops if you do not have this at home
• Cover travel and childcare costs for face-to-face sessions