Spring 2023Dani Burke: mental wellness through art

Every Saturday at the Carnegie Library in Castleton, a small group of teenagers are picking up their paints and using art as a therapeutic outlet – all thanks to one woman.

Dani Burke is the artist behind the Creative Teenage Sessions CIC, which provides free art sessions in a positive safe space.

Everything is provided for with no costs or hidden fees, as Dani is firm that finances need not be a barrier: “Some teens might come from financially vulnerable families and I want these sessions to be accessible to everyone.”

After her father died, Dani turned to art. Unable to sleep and battling depression, Dani dug out some blank canvases and picked up her paints, before going on to set up her abstract art business, The Studio Artisan.

Wanting to help others use art in a similar way, she started to run free voluntary sessions for struggling teenagers and adults.

Now Dani runs sessions through Rochdale Mind as a mentally health trained peer support worker, as well as her own sessions for teens through her Community Interest Company (CIC). She’s also held one-off sessions such as one with Healthwatch Rochdale for people with dementia, which she “really enjoyed and wants to do more of.”

Dani’s Saturday sessions have recently been on hiatus, but in that time she has still taken members of the group on day trips out to the likes of Skylight Circus Arts, Rochdale’s Curtain Theatre and Oldham Coliseum.

“I want them to know that I still care about them,” she said.

At the time of publication, Dani has recently finished running a series of private sessions for young girls aged 11-17 on a Monday evening: Empowering & Inspirational Sisters.

The group’s work will be on display in a small exhibition at the library, showcasing the different themes touched on over the weeks.

“These sessions were set up to give young girls the tools to deal with body positivity and open up to express themselves in a positive way away from social media and engaging with other girls,” she explained.

“One mum told me how her young daughter is dealing with the pressures of social media and has received inappropriate messages at just eleven.

“We’ve covered lots of different topics and talking about what life is like now for a young girl, such as pressure to look a certain way. That has always been there but it’s more difficult now.

“When I was that age, it was Photoshopped models in magazines and you could choose not to look, now it’s filters and influencers everywhere, and unwanted sexual attention.

“We needed a place to celebrate being female, empowering these girls and showing them they can do what they want and giving the confidence to do that. After the first session, they were already making friends and swapping phone numbers.”

Last year Dani was shortlisted for the Rochdale Borough Sports & Culture Awards, which celebrates local sporting and cultural heroes.

Since setting up the CIC, Dani has taken on two additional volunteers and an additional director, meaning she can now apply for funding – something that had been a barrier when first starting out.

Now Dani has also set her sights on running a group for peri-menopausal and menopausal women – and is ready to welcome any older volunteers.

“It shocks me that there’s nothing in Rochdale for women of that age. Women are fabulous when they’re 60; they say what they think and they don’t care what people think about them.

“It’d be great to have a two-hour session during the day that mums can come to when the kids are at school. It’s hard to fit things around being back for them so a two-hour session would be ideal to fit into the day.

“I’m looking for a base now to be open all week, an open door for the community and a warm space for company. I need something permanent; that’s my next goal.”