Our Patrons

Create’s Patrons

Our Patrons have a passion for the creative arts and their power to enhance lives. They endorse our work in a variety of ways. They attend workshops and performances, meeting and inspiring our participants. They write forewords to our published collections of participants’ work, helping to raise their self-esteem. They help with fundraising appeals and events, and donate items and experiences for us to auction, helping to raise vital funds. They speak about our work in blogs and media interviews, raising our profile.

Dame EVELYN GLENNIE

Musician

“I am honoured to be a Patron of an organisation that does so much for so many children and adults who are vulnerable and disadvantaged. It is so important for everyone to have the opportunity to take part in the creative arts and experience their benefits. Music, for example, can be a powerful way for people to express themselves. Create is doing such important, life-changing work and I am thrilled to be part of it.”

Isy Suttie

Writer, actress and comedian

“What I love about Create is that it listens to the people it’s working with, so the important thing is the process, not just the end result. This enhances the participants’ feelings of wellbeing and confidence, and makes them part of a collaboration, giving them a space that’s just for them to express themselves. I truly believe creativity can set people free and have lifelong-lasting effects on mental health.”

Ken Howard OBE

Artist ~ Sadly Ken passed away in 2022. Click to read our statement.

“Creating a piece of art is about looking at the world around you with new eyes and developing a personal language that enables you to communicate your perspective with others. I value the work that Create is doing to ensure that people from all backgrounds and all walks of life are getting a chance to experience the joy of creating art. I also admire the way Create is using this idea of art involving people looking at the world with new eyes to give groups of people, who would have so little contact with each other otherwise, a chance to come together, gain a fresh perspective of each other and form a conversation with one another.”

SIR MATTHEW BOURNE OBE

Choreographer/director

“The creative arts open up so many means of self-expression. As a choreographer, I do not concern myself with words. Movement is my language. I am excited to be a Patron of a charity that is giving people from disadvantaged backgrounds a chance to try out this language for themselves and express things that they perhaps cannot find words for. More than this, I am excited to be a Patron of a charity that adopts a multi artform approach to creativity. Just as words are not my medium, for others their medium may not be movement. Create’s combination of artforms puts the focus on the individual. Its projects give every participant a chance to find their own personal language whether this is poetry, music, dance, drama or art.”

Esther Freud

Writer

“In this age of testing and over examination, it is heart-warming to find an organisation that believes in the motivating power of creativity. Every painter, writer and musician has a story about what, or who it was that inspired them. I know for myself it made a huge difference to my life when, aged 13, I was taken to a seminal production of Macbeth; and then later, on a class trip, was shown how the concrete slabs that make up the National Theatre are in fact imprinted with the patterns of living wood. If Create can do that for even one participant in each of its many projects, then I’m proud to be a Patron.”

Tim Marlow OBE

Writer, broadcaster and art historian

“I have always been of the opinion that the arts are a powerful force in our world and that they are open to everyone but the fact remains that children are frequently denied access for social or economic reasons – not to mention the diminishing place for arts on the national curriculum. Create seems to me to seek to harness the creative potential in everyone as well as realising the joy and pleasure of making and doing, of singing and playing, of participating together. I’m proud to become a Patron.

Nicholas McCarthy

Musician

“It was a delightful surprise when I was asked to become a Patron of Create. I like to do a lot of charity work and am Patron of quite a few, however I always like to be selective of which ones I want to work with. The charity needs to touch me in some way and this certainly was the case with Create. What I love about the work Create does is the fact that it doesn’t focus on one ‘group’ of people. It manages to help a hugely diverse range of people who without it would be forgotten or over-looked.”

Erwin James

Writer ~ Sadly Erwin passed away in 2024. Click to read our statement.

“Prison is not an environment that encourages self-confidence and self-expression among those within its confines. It takes strength, courage and commitment to overcome the limitations that prison culture inflicts on an individual’s capacity to be expressive and creative. I was lucky enough to attend one of Creates projects and witness a group of women prisoners performing their work. I was humbled not only by the courage and determination they demonstrated in giving their performances but also by the sheer quality of what they had produced alongside Create’s professional writer. The women I saw were clearly proud of their work and appeared to feel very good about what they had achieved. And let’s face it, people who feel good about themselves are surely less likely to be inclined to cause pain or distress to others.”

Susannah Simons

Director of Partnerships at Marquee TV

“I have always believed that the arts have an important role to play in the development of all of us as human beings! Anybody who has seen how children grow emotionally and intellectually through music, dance and the other creative arts will vouch for the importance of this work. For that reason I am honoured to be a Patron of Create – the work that Nicky and her team do in this field is an inspiration!”

Howard Goodall CBE

Composer and TV presenter

“Creating a piece of music from scratch is a terrifying, exhilarating, tremendously freeing experience, and the pride you feel when an audience applauds a work of your creation is something you will never forget. I am thrilled to be a Patron of a charity that gives some of our society’s most disadvantaged children and adults opportunities to create and perform their own music. It’s also exciting to be involved with a charity that embraces so many different forms of music. At Create’s performances, you regularly hear the playing of classical instruments, such as oboes and violins, intertwined with African djembe drums, Tanzanian flutes, kazoos and even drainpipes played with flip-flops!”

Shobana Jeyasingh CBE

Choreographer

“I am honoured to be a Patron of Create and to support and endorse the fantastic work the charity is doing in making creativity accessible to all. Creativity and the use of the imagination is a precious human faculty and deserves to be exercised, nurtured and celebrated in the widest possible manner. I sincerely applaud the efforts of Create to bring the fruits of creativity to such a diverse range of people.”

Lord Moynihan

“Everybody should have the chance to experience the joy, stimulation and social benefits of the arts and I am delighted to be a Patron of a charity that ensures that these chances are given to some of the most disadvantaged people in our society. Create also shares my passion for the environment and sport, regularly using these to provide an exciting source of creative inspiration for children and adults alike on its projects.”