MEET THE TEAM
DAVID STOKES WRITER
David Stokes has been CEO of The Halpern Charitable Foundation since March 2019, leading the charge in using the arts to combat mental health challenges and social isolation.
But David is also an aspiring writer, too! His love for words was first recognized in 2012 when his poem Letter to the Head of Faculty earned an honourable mention in the Wergle Flump International Humour Poetry Competition. Encouraged by this success, he turned his hand to prose, going on to win multiple short-story competitions across a variety of genres, and writing a number of novels.
His storytelling extends to the stage and airwaves, with numerous plays performed by local theatre groups — a mix of pantomimes and quirky narratives, most recently “Die Hard” the Panto. As a director at Medway Pride Radio, David has also spearheaded a series of original radio plays, performed by local theatre groups, with some scripts penned by him. Whether through arts leadership, writing, or radio, David has a passion for creativity and community, and is excited to be part of the B Cre8tive team.
LINKEDIN: drdavidstokes
NICK ASHTON artist
Nick (AKA The Chicken Monster) has been a professional illustrator, designer and animator for 20 years and has worked extensively in the entertainment industry, for clients such as Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, Disney, Dreamworks, Universal, HBO, Netflix, Harper Collins and Sony.
As a freelance illustrator, he creates bespoke artwork, takes on private commissions, illustrates children’s books, creates theatre designs, and designs brands and events marketing.
Nick’s illustration style is heavily influenced by comic books and film, and his artwork can be found at national Comic-Cons, on his online store (click here) and at gallery exhibitions.
He co-founded the Kent Illustration Network, is very passionate about mentoring young illustrators, and runs art-therapy workshops in schools and the wider community.
WEBSITE: chickenmonster.co.uk
INSTAGRAM: @chickenmonsterart
LINKEDIN: nick-ashton-5b13037
CHARLIE WILSON WRITER
Charlie is a professional book editor, ghostwriter and writing coach. She’s been working with publishers and authors for more than twenty years, and is passionate about helping writers to tell their stories (fiction) and share their knowledge (non-fiction).
She’s also a published author, and has written nine books to date, a mix of non-fiction and novels, some of which she publishes under pen names (shh!). She’s been known to dabble in poetry, flash fiction and short stories too. Her first ever published work was a poem published in Just Seventeen magazine when she was fourteen. It remains one of her favourite pieces of writing because she remembers well how much courage it took for her to submit it.
Charlie – a longtime Medway resident who relocated to the city of Robin Hood – is delighted to be involved in Be Cre8tive. Writing, she knows, is something we can ALL do, no matter our age or background or skills or confidence.
Her hope is that Be Cre8tive will encourage young people to have a go, to follow whatever creative idea they may have, and to discover how the arts can be a welcoming place for exploration, expression and just plain good fun.
wordsmithery writers
Sam and Barry Fentiman Hall run Wordsmithery, a Medway-based literary organisation that has been making word-based projects in the area since 2010.
Sam is a playwright turned graphic novelist, and Barry is a poet.
Wordsmithery set up and run Medway River Lit – a yearly literary festival for Medway (2023 onwards). They also conceived other amazing literary projects such as The Empty Chair poetry walk (2021-22), Confluence: Plant; Grow; Nurture, a year-long mentorship scheme for 6 local writers and pop-up poetry events (2017-18); An Assemblance of Judicious Heretics art and writing project and exhibition, (2014-2017 & 2020). For more info on our projects check out our website – www.wordsmithery.info
Wordsmithery loves to share our passion for words by working with writers at all stages of their careers, from beginners to published and award-winning authors.
We believe that the arts should be accessible to all and actively encourage equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace and in the arts. Stories in all formats (books, plays, comics, songs, video games, etc, etc…), can help us to understand and navigate the world we live in. It’s simple - we need to hear all voices in order to get a clear understanding of that world.
We hope that through this project we will contribute to the growth of Medway’s literary scene and encourage a more joined up approach through different art forms.
DARREN CURRINGTON MUSICIAN
Hi my name is Darren, I am a full time musician and Medway Licensed Music Teacher. I have been involved in music education and the music industry for over 20 years allowing me to work within schools/teaching classes and one to one sessions, as well has helping put on shows and productions. Away from schools I have been fortunate enough to play with some incredible musicians including members of Paul Weller’s band and Oasis which was a great experience.
Within the Medway towns I have worked on some amazing projects including running workshops for Kent Association for the Blind, supporting Dynamics CIC with their March Festival giving young people a chance to perform on stage, as well as writing and recording tracks for the Medway Eyes albums back at the start of 2010.
More recently I have been working on a music technology Project helping young people who are not from a music background gain an understanding within writing and making their own music through the use of digital platforms.
Encouraging people to be creative is a real passion of mine, I will always try to get all students to be an active part of the schools music scene. Either playing in school bands or being part of shows/productions. Whenever a student comes to me and asks if they can do/learn something I will always say yes!
JESS KIRBY artist
Jess Kirby is a very talented young artist and a valued member of the B Cre8ive artists team. Don’t let her age of 18 fool you, Jess is a very driven and ambitious artist with a talent for incredible Anime art and keen character building skills. Jess will front the artists Discord channel alongside Nick Ashton and help to build a great community of young artists throughout this project.
Jess has recently finished her A Levels and is keenly waiting to join Swnasea University in September to study Psychology. This makes Jess the perfect candidate to combine art and well-being and will be able to encourage some of our more nervous artists to join our lovely creative community.