Judith, a former lecturer in creative writing at Gloucestershire College, started a poetry club at Monkscroft and now residents have published their first collection.

Mayor of Cheltenham, Matt Babbage, attended, along with friends and family of the poetry club, and even former students of Judith, to hear residents and staff read aloud from the book.

Judith said of the process: “I just want to give thanks to all the members of the poetry club. I pushed the ball, but they keep it rolling. We sit together, we write, we go wandering off and then come back and stitch it all together into a poem. Sarah types up our work, I edit it, and then we print it out to share the following week.”

Copies of the book were on sale at the event with proceeds going towards the home’s residents’ amenities fund to support residents’ interests and hobbies.

Home Manager, Doreen Paisley, who presented each of the poets with a pot plant, said: “We’re so proud of our residents! We encourage them to be creative, to get involved and when they wrote these poems, we saw how much our poets notice all the details of their lives and life in a care home. It’s been very special and everyone has a part to play.”

Judith has previously had poems published in Mslexia, and the University of Gloucestershire Anthology, and her work has been read and sung at the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham. She has won The Wells Poetry Prize, the Petra Kenney Prize, and she has recently won the East Riding Poetry Festival 2023 with her poem, A Spell to Prepare the Air for Swans.

The poetry club is now working on their second collection.