Illustration alumna receives Cornwall Heroes Award for creative work with mental health charities

It began during my second year at Falmouth, which was when I started freelancing as an illustrator with CLEAR, a Cornish charity that supports children and adults who have been affected by abuse and traumatic crime. I worked with a group of children from CLEAR to create an illustrated picture book for children joining the service. Together we created chapter book illustrations about various therapy techniques that are used by creative therapists in the service.  

On graduating in 2023, I spent a year in a Specialist Eating Disorders Unit as a volunteer, running creative groups with patients receiving treatment. I worked with the Occupational Therapy team and patients to design two murals for the unit to portray the therapeutic relationship and journey of recovery through visual metaphors.  

More recently, I’ve been working as an Occupational Therapy Assistant in the NHS, using my illustration skills and theory to run creative communication groups for patients receiving inpatient rehabilitation for strokes and brain injuries. I love to tailor my therapy sessions to include creative elements that makes it feel more functional, fun and less clinical! 

How did you find your time studying Illustration at Falmouth? What skills did you gain that you have proved valuable in the work that you do now? 

My time at Falmouth changed my life in so many ways, and I would do it all over again if I had the opportunity! I really valued studying in such a creative, calming place, with so many people also open to exploring themselves through illustration. The foundations of colour theory, composition, mark-making and narrative pacing techniques really encouraged me to push myself creatively to explore the communication of difficult life experiences through narrative illustration. I loved the gradual freedom we were given throughout the three years to choose our own projects and discover areas of illustration that we may not have considered before. 

I joined the course wanting to become a children’s picture book illustrator and left with such a breadth of career possibilities to consider from the projects I’d chosen over my time on the course. The lecturers were always approachable and supportive of pushing the boundaries of illustration, encouraging students to use the course to explore what really matters to you. 

I learnt to be self-directed, constructively critical of my own work and to collaborate with others to start projects that create real change in communities. The course didn’t just change me creatively; it changed my outlook on life and my ability to relate and communicate with others. I will always be incredibly proud to have been a student at Falmouth, as it became a foundation for the career I am now building for myself.  

Can you tell us more about the work you’re doing now? 

I’ve been volunteering with Georgia’s Voice as a Support Group Facilitator since 2021, providing spaces for young women in Cornwall struggling with their mental health. I facilitated the Penryn group on campus for two years before graduating and then moved to an online facilitator role after leaving university. I completed a counselling skills course in 2024 after graduation whilst working in the education system with young people in need of additional support.  

My volunteering and work roles over the past couple of years helped me to gain the skills to apply and secure a place at Oxford University, studying a Master’s in Psychodynamic Therapy, a modality that explores the unconscious impacts of past experiences and the communication of our internal world through dreams, metaphors and symbolism. It’s something I discovered whilst writing my Illustration dissertation at Falmouth. Studying for my master’s has built on the theoretical knowledge from my initial research that I gained during my undergraduate degree. I believe there is so much potential for change by providing a space for people to feel safe, heard and respected whilst encouraging them to be curious about their experiences. 

Discover BA(Hons) Illustration