Free & Funded: The Wellness Programme London's Sickle Cell Community Has Been Waiting For
Workshop 01 Sound & Colour
January 2026
Sound & Colour was the first workshop of the programme, and for many attendees, the first time they had ever experienced sound therapy. The session wove together a sound bath and art-making, designed specifically for people living with sickle cell disease and chronic pain.
We created it in winter deliberately. Cold weather intensifies pain. Energy drops. Isolation creeps in. We wanted to place warmth and creative release right into the middle of that.
"Hope. Renewal. Love. Freedom. Connection. Healing."
That is what one participant offered when we asked what the session had given them. Others wrote about the relief of being in a room where nobody needed an explanation. Some picked up a paintbrush for the first time. Some felt safe to release tears. Some simply rested, and that was enough.
100%
of participants reported feeling calmer by the end
80%
described feeling 'much calmer' in mind or body
100%
said they would attend another Akanji Studio Wellness session
"It gave me a safe space to share with other people who have a lived experience of chronic pain."
"Made me realise I am holding in more than I thought, and I have nothing to feel ashamed of."
Workshop 02 Spoken Word Poetry Workshop
In partnership with My Friend Jen Charity, facilitated by Dialectic Dee · February 2026 · London Docklands Museum
This workshop was created for the sickle cell community, a space to find language for an experience that is often invisible, often misunderstood, and often carried alone.
Seven people came. One had never written poetry before. Another arrived feeling exhausted but determined. By the end, every single person left calmer than they arrived. Every single person said they would come back.
"I met other warriors, and it was the first time I've been in a space whereby everyone understood exactly what I've been through or currently go through."
Another participant said the session gave them confidence to know they could be creative, and showed them how to channel their illness into something productive. The poems they wrote belonged to them. The tools, the prompts, the permission to put words to pain, those they took home.
100%
felt completely safe to express themselves
100%
said the workshop helped them articulate feelings that are usually hard to put into words
100%
left feeling calmer than when they arrived
"A creative outlet for my heart and mind. It also gave me positive vibes that I'll carry with me for days, months and years, amazing experience!"
"Freedom to express my pain and speak to my body."
Workshop 03 Breath-work Workshop
Breath-work can feel like a strange concept if you've never tried it, particularly if your relationship with your body has been shaped by illness, pain, or medical trauma. We wanted to create a session that was genuinely accessible: not performative wellness, but practical, body-led nervous system support for people who need it most.
Kikz Katika held the space with enormous care. Six of the ten attendees completed feedback forms, and what they shared reflected a real shift, in body and in understanding.
Before the session, many participants described feeling tense or uncertain about whether breath-work could benefit them. By the end, they had experienced the answer in their own bodies. Several said they were very likely to continue practising breath-work at home, a tool they can return to anytime, requiring nothing but breath.
Workshop 04 & 05 Crescent Cell, Sickle Moon, Development Workshops
In partnership with Tamasha Theatre Company & playwright Mojisola Adebayo · 12 & 13th March 2026 · National Theatre Studio
These two days at the National Theatre Studio were something different, and something deeply significant. Akanji Studio Wellness partnered with Tamasha Theatre Company on the development workshops for Crescent Cell, Sickle Moon, a new play by Mojisola Adebayo that centres the lived experience of sickle cell disease.
Our role was to provide hospitality, a welcoming environment, honest script feedback, and visual identity support. We were a partner in this process, not the host, and that distinction matters. This was the theatre's and Tamasha's creative space, and we were honoured to contribute to it.
What made these sessions extraordinary was who was in the room: people living with sickle cell, witnessing and shaping a piece of theatre that is explicitly about their lives. For many, it was the first time they had seen their experience reflected in an art form at that scale.
"I felt seen! The actors did an amazing job in drawing the crowd and bringing out emotions in us all."
"Being included was a new experience, so appreciated the effort that has gone into it, but also seeing other sufferers outside the context of their illness, but as people."
100%
rated the welcome and inclusion experience 5 out of 5
86%
rated their overall experience of the workshops 5 out of 5
100%
said they would like to stay connected with Akanji Studio Wellness
86%
said the workshops had a positive effect on their wellbeing
"It gave me a sense of belief and importance in my life."
"I left feeling lifted and good."
"The openness, artistic vibe, and feeling of community and empowerment."
"Something organically grown like this, it's affirming to see it nurtured, and I hope it grows to its full potential."
Workshop 06 Men's Social: Link Up & Book Swap
In partnership with ourppls & Ubele Initiative, wellbeing session by Soul Surge Wellness C.I.C. · 22 March 2026 · Wolves Lane Centre
The Men's Social was built around something simple and powerful: bringing a book that has moved you, swapping it with someone else, and seeing what opens up from there.
It was a free afternoon for men living with sickle cell, chronic pain, and hidden disabilities, a space where nobody had to explain themselves, and where the act of sharing a book became an act of sharing something more. Tony Supreme of Soul Surge Wellness C.I.C. led a dedicated wellbeing session, created specifically for the men and boys in the room.
Connection was the medicine on that afternoon. Community care, in practice.
Workshop 07 Give to Gain
In partnership with ourppls, Truth of a Warrior Network & Inside Out Wellbeing · 26 March 2026 · The New Blxck, Shoreditch
Give to Gain was our International Women's Month gathering, a free evening for women living with chronic health conditions and their carers, capped at fifty people. ourppls curated and initiated this event, and brought together a room that felt genuinely celebratory and deeply intentional.
The evening included a screening of the HUGS campaign by Truth of a Warrior Network, an in-conversation between Orelia Grace and Dionne Reid, and a wellbeing session facilitated by Inside Out Wellbeing.
The feedback was unanimous.
100%
rated the evening 5 out of 5
100%
felt welcomed, included, and said the event was designed with their needs in mind
100%
said they would attend a future Akanji Studio Wellness event
100%
said they would recommend our events to someone they know
"A lot of the time we can feel lonely and feel as though nobody knows what we're going through, so going to spaces like this and meeting likeminded warriors helps me heal and live with my chronic condition."
"I saw beauty in it."
What Connects All Seven
Each workshop was different in form. A sound bath. A poem. A breath. A script read aloud at the National Theatre. A book swap. An evening gathering. A conversation. But the thing people described, across all seven sessions, across all the feedback, was the same.
They felt safe. They felt seen. They felt less alone.
For people living with long-term health conditions, that is not a small thing. Isolation is one of the most consistent and under-acknowledged experiences of chronic illness. When you spend significant energy managing your body, explaining yourself, resting, recovering, the world can quietly shrink around you.
These workshops push back against that.
What's Coming Next
Our programme runs through to early 2027. Next: Blends & Blooms on 18 April 2026 at Rosetta Arts, facilitated by Soul Play Ground, a sensory workshop blending tea-making and watercolour painting. Free, capped at 25.
This work is made possible by the National Lottery Community Fund.