Creative Writing Volunteer

Roses are red,

Violets are twee,

Coventry Vision Hub need scribes,

Who can write better than me!

Coventry Vision Hub is a local charity offering practical, social, and emotional support to adults with sight loss across Coventry. Our creative writing group is one of our most popular activities, with far-reaching ramifications for the wider community. To date, the group has had one book published (Who Turned Out the Lights) and is about to make its latest appearance at the Criterion Theatre here in Earlsdon, as part of their Springboard Festival.

We are looking for creative and passionate people to be scribes for the creative writing group. All the writers have lost at least some portion of their eyesight. This presents a unique challenge for creative writing, and is where our wonderful team of scribes come in. The scribes work one-on-one with the writers, helping them craft the thoughts in their heads and get them down on paper.

As a volunteer scribe, you will:

• • Work one-on-one with a writer to facilitate the creation and capturing of ideas.
  • Read back what you have written to help the writer you are working with refine their work.
  • Help guide the writer you are working with, while ensuring their work remains their own.
  • Support the writer you are working with to convey their writing back to the group, either by reading the piece verbatim, or by providing verbal prompts.
  • Check in with the writer you are working with if you think the writing process may have elicited an emotional reaction.
  • Check in with other volunteers or staff members if the writing process has elicited an emotional reaction in yourself.
  • Facilitate user-led sessions with the other volunteers.

As a volunteer scribe, you will be playing a big part in one of our most transformative groups, while gaining invaluable experience of working with people with sight loss. The creative writing group is a fun and thought-provoking group, whose members work together to turn their ideas and experience – both positive and negative – into beautiful art.