Drayton Park’s birthday party celebrates women’s creative flair | News

The Drayton Park Women’s Crisis House celebrated its 28^th birthday on Friday 15 December with poetry and song recitals, plentiful food, and residents past and present in attendance.

The 12-bedroom house in north London provides a warm and homely environment for women in mental health crisis and is an alternative to a hospital admission for many.

Founded by Shirley McNicholas, the residence has become a model for other trauma-informed crisis houses both here in the UK and even abroad, with women able to be admitted with their children.

The birthday celebrations showcased the creative flair and talent of some of the women with a poetry workshop. They shared poems and songs, against the backdrop of the huge Drayton Park Christmas tree.

They recited poems that they had written on a range of themes meaningful to them as a group: feelings, women as peacemakers, and survival.

One woman had composed a song about sticking by someone who is struggling with their mental health, which she sang and played on the keyboard.

Celebrating women’s creativity and its value

One of the poets spoke after the recital about how collaborating with other women to write poetry has helped her “create a safe space in her mind” that she can keep coming back to.

Shirley, the Drayton Park manager, also took the opportunity to draw attendees’ attention to the colourful paintings of Black women adorning walls of the living room where the partygoers were gathered.

She introduced the artist behind the works – a resident who is due to leave London. The party, therefore, also made for a great send-off for her.

The importance of Drayton Park’s events

While the house’s birthday provided the ideal opportunity for festivities, especially so close to Christmas, staff emphasised the importance of any event that Drayton Park hosts.

Staff put a lot of effort into making sure the house is a “home” for women years after they have moved back into the community, putting on regular events and activities open to any ex-resident.

For example, one of the newer practitioners at Drayton Park, Sarah, is hoping to launch a partnership with Arsenal FC to offer the women access to training pitches, a stadium tour, and hopefully even free tickets to some of the women’s matches at the neighbouring Emirates stadium.

Staff and past and present residents are also already looking forward to the International Women’s Day celebrations in March, focusing once again on poetry and song.

There may also be a published book of Drayton Park poems ready for two years’ time when the house will celebrate turning 30!