WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO …

EVEN before I understood how art therapy works in hospitals, before I saw it calm children waiting for injections or blood tests or chemotherapy, I always “got” how arts and crafts can transport you to another place.

I think psychologists call it getting in the flow – that idea that you escape into your picture, or whatever you are knitting or painting and time goes by in the blink of an eye.

The Teapot Trust, the charity I set up after the death of my daughter Verity, employs art therapists in hospitals and hospices around the UK. Verity had lupus and hated going to hospital. I often had to drag her kicking and screaming into the waiting room and I would see other parents doing the same. At Glasgow’s old Yorkhill hospital, I had the idea for the charity because I thought – there must be an easier way.

Verity was given a cancer diagnosis too, shortly before she died – she just wasn’t meant to live a long life. I knitted constantly at her hospital bedside – it was a way to feel purposeful at a time when life is so unknown, and in the balance. After a horrid day of bad news, at least the knitting had moved forward.

I was very fortunate to have a grandmother and great-aunt who knitted and crocheted constantly, so I learned from them.

I have always been a creative crafter though I went on to study science. Not that the two should be mutually exclusive – we should all do a bit of art or crafting every now and then, just to keep ourselves right.

I love sewing and made my own dress when I was invited to Downing Street to meet Theresa May as part of a celebration for International Women’s Day.

Watching the Teapot Trust art therapists at work is incredible. It’s not just about kids having some fun with clay and paint, although of course, that’s part of it. There is a lot more going on – these children are often scared and frustrated when they arrive, and their siblings and parents are exhausted and upset.

As the art therapists gently encourage them to make or draw something, the gulping sobs stop, the tears slow, the children get engrossed and the parents can breathe again.

They lose themselves in their imaginations and that 40-minute wait suddenly becomes enjoyable. They forget they are in hospital.

We are beginning research into the

benefits of art therapy on the health of children with long-term illnesses and conditions but I can share lots of anecdotal evidence. Consultants say the art therapy makes their clinics run more smoothly because the patients are less tense and happier at the start – they don’t have to spend time calming their children down.

When I won the Evening Times Scotswoman of the Year Award in February, I dedicated it to the art therapists because they do an incredible job. They do the real work, and they are changing lives.