Passport to Wellbeing - Creative Zine-Making

Course intent

Discover the creative and expressive world of zine-making. Zines (pronounced “zeens”) are self-published booklets, usually free or low-cost, that allow you to share your passions, your art, your writing, whatever you’re interested in. It’s a great low-risk way to start thinking about creative writing, journalling, drawing and painting, or some other new interest.

Through hands-on activities and exercises, and guided artistic exploration, you’ll learn how to craft your own personal zines as a tool for self-expression. You will explore different themes and ideas while experimenting with collage, drawing, writing, and mixed media techniques. By the end of the course, you’ll have a collection of unique, hand-made zines that reflect your journey, insights, and creative growth.

The intent of this course is for you to learn to design and create personal Zines and through this help you improve your sense of wellbeing.

This course is part of our Passport to Wellbeing programme for adults to support them as they rediscover their mental and emotional balance and to help them live healthy, active lives. If depression, anxiety or stress are making your life difficult, come and join one of our free courses. You can connect with others, learn new skills and create something new.

What will I learn?

This course offers step-by-step guidance to help you create personal Zines for artistic and written self-expression.

By the end of the course, you will be able to:

Understand simple paper manipulation techniques for zine creation

Use different sources for inspiration such as contemporary artists, books and magazines, online resources

Use a range of artistic and craft techniques, such as painting, drawing, mark-making, collage, printing

Experiment with approaches to wellbeing that can be integrated into your daily life

As this course takes place over several sessions, you will find you make the most progress if you attend every lesson and complete any home practice that is suggested.

Who is this course for? Is there anything I need to know before joining?

If your mental health is making your life difficult, for example because you are depressed, anxious or stressed, this course might be for you. It is part of our Passport to Wellbeing programme which is for people would like to improve their mental health.

This course is suitable for anyone who wants to learn to create Zines, for fun, for personal expression. No prior artistic experience is needed - just a willingness to explore and create.

If you would like to enrol, we will ask you to attend a pre-course meeting, including a questionnaire about your wellbeing and any additional support needs. This is essential to help us ensure we provide the right support to enable you to have a positive learning experience with us.

What do I need to bring to the first class? Will there be any extra costs?

Please bring a notepad and pen or pencil.

All basic materials and equipment are included. There will be no extra costs.

What can I do when I finish the course?

As a learner on our Passport to Wellbeing programme, you will be offered a maximum of three free courses on the programme.

After this course, in discussion with your tutor, you may wish to progress on to further courses in the same subject, or you can choose to switch to another course in the programme (subject to places being available).

When you feel ready to learn in a more open environment, you will also be offered a 50% discount on a course on our main Community Learning programme.

Additional information

We welcome learners with additional needs and disabilities. When you enrol, please let us know if you would like to discuss your extra support needs with a member of the Supported Learning Team who will then contact you as soon as possible. If you are enrolling within 10 days of the course start date, we may not be able to contact you before your first class.

We value and support equality, diversity and inclusion by promoting fairness and respect at all times.

How to enrol

You can't currently enrol online for this course, so please call 0300 200 1044 to express your interest or to make an enquiry for further information.

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