Create Space
A free creative wellbeing programme for 11 – 16 year olds from Lambeth and Southwark
Taking place during spring and summer 2026, Create Space empowers and celebrates young people’s creativity, with a particular focus on poetry.
Create Space has been produced by the Southbank Centre’s Arts & Wellbeing team in partnership with health & wellbeing practitioner Naomi Yeger of The Well Centre, a Lambeth-based youth health and wellbeing organisation. The programme encourages 11 – 16 year olds from Lambeth and Southwark to explore their creativity to produce artwork which will be showcased as part of the 2026 edition of Poetry International.
What is Create Space?
Create Space is a free, creative arts programme guiding young people through three stages:
Express
Exploring poetry through different lenses and mediums – such as creative writing, visual arts and spoken word – at weekly workshops led by professional artists and facilitated by wellbeing practitioners.
Create
Working across a range of art forms to develop their own project with guidance from artists, access to resources and the opportunity of peer collaboration.
Exhibit
Curating, designing and installing their work in a space here at the Southbank Centre, that will be shared in a public group exhibition during this year’s Poetry International festival.
The background
Create Space is part of the Southbank Centre Arts & Wellbeing programme which responds to the urgent need for accessible and inclusive mental health support for young people.
This particular project encapsulates the programme’s key strategic aim of supporting local young people and their emotional wellbeing and resilience, through creativity and arts engagement, psychological wellbeing and connection to others.
This project was co-designed by The Well Centre – a Lambeth based youth health and wellbeing organisation – and the Southbank Centre, with input from young people in Lambeth and Southwark.
The purpose
Creativity is a proven tool for helping build self-esteem, encourage self-expression and help process emotions. With many young people experiencing isolation, stress, loneliness, and disconnection, this project offers an alternative: a safe, inspiring, and creative space to reconnect, express, and grow.
By co-producing and delivering programmes in partnership with health services like The Well Centre, we’re integrating the arts with preventative care and wellbeing strategies. This project mobilises our organisations’ shared commitment to young people in south London.
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