A group of west Belfast women are aiming to break down barriers for those suffering from poor mental health through creative self-care.
Kitsch Sisters was set up last year by close friends Brónagh Diamond, Aoife Marcella McCrory and Gráinne Mullan as a way of reducing loneliness and mental health issues while building a supportive and creative community.
“I’m one of the founding members of Mothers Against Genocide which promotes the idea of sisterhood, sorority and solidarity,” explains Aoife, “and from the relationships I’ve gained through that group I realised I didn’t really have much of a community around me and I felt really detached from those social connections.
“So, I thought creating something that promoted the idea of sisterhood, community and belonging and offered a space to share experiences would be really useful.”
Kitsch Sisters is a CIC - or community interest company - which means it’s primarily focused on benefiting the community it serves, rather than making a profit for shareholders.
Brónagh explains that Kitsch Sisters “fills a gap in society”.
“Other than meeting your friends at the pub, people never normally get together to do things so Kitsch offers an alternative where you can meet up and do something really wholesome,” she says.
Offering a range of different workshops from dress making and jewellery crafting to painting, cooking and gardening the organisation caters to a variety of interests.
“It’s like a kids club for grown-ups,” laughs Brónagh, “If you mention any form of craft that you’re interested in there will be someone in the group that’ll go, ‘I have all the kit for that’ – it just seems to be the type of people we attract.
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“We have a member who has all the stuff to do paper quilling, another who is really good at embroidery, someone else who’s really into homeopathy and makes all her own soaps.
“It means we can run workshops on all these things, but we don’t necessarily have to go out and buy anything to get started.”
The team believe the workshops help people to discover practical ways to develop their resilience, confidence and creativity.
“Kitsch is like a good bra - we want to provide solid support,” says Brónagh.
“A lot of the stuff we do is really just an opportunity for us to get together and have a bash at something just for the fun of it,” Aoife adds.
“We want Kitsch to be really accessible - it doesn’t matter if you’re any good at whatever we’re doing we’ll just have a giggle, a bit of craic and copious amounts of tea and biscuits - there’s no pressure or commitment involved.”
Having only been in operation since August, Kitsch has continued to grow with more people turning up to each workshop.
The group have also hosted two supper clubs - which have sold out on both occasions.
Brónagh says the team has been “blown away by people’s response and enthusiasim”.
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“We can’t believe it - in the beginning we weren’t really advertising it because we already had a group of women who were interested but once we put it up on Instagram the response was amazing, we’ve had messages flooding in from people,” she says.
“And we also didn’t realise just how much of a positive impact it would have.
“We had a girl come to us who had had her children quite young and was lacking a wee bit in confidence when it came to her career.
“She wanted to study art but didn’t have the opportunity because she was raising children but she’s a fantastic photographer and since she started coming along to Kitsch you can just see her growing in confidence which has been lovely.”
Kitsch is also set to host its first wellness retreat at the end of the month which aims to create a safe space for people to share their experiences and offer an opportunity to relax away from the stresses of everyday life.
“The retreat is really all about getting back to nature and being by the sea - it’s not going to be big or boujee but we are aiming for a luxury feel on a budget,” explains Brónagh.
“There’ll be pottery, cooking, meditation, yoga and just really wholesome vibes that will help us to centre ourselves.
“Aoife has organised the entire thing and because of her connections with ArtsEkta and the contacts she’s built up a lot of people have agreed to facilitate classes for free or for a discounted prices which is amazing.”
Having just moved into their new studio space on Belfast’s Fountain Lane, it is the hope of Brónagh, Aoife and Gráinne that the organisation will continue to grow and make a positive impact.
“We just want to build on the success of everything we’ve done so far and having a base has really helped give us the freedom to do that,” says Aoife.
“The ultimate goal is just to keep building up our community and help make people happy.”
Kitsch Sisters are on Instagram @kitschsistersbelfast
