New creative writing group in Weymouth

The monthly 'Free Write' class is open to anyone interested in creative writing, regardless of their experience or education. Sessions are held at Safewise on Radipole Lane and will feature a prompt, exercise or writing game for people to work on until the next meeting.

Writers will be encouraged to share their work by reading it aloud - although there is never any pressure to do so, organisers say. The aim of the sessions is to provide a warm, supportive environment to help people improve their work, gain confidence and increase wellbeing.

Emma Matthews, organiser, said: "I ran a community writing group for several years and loved it. People came for all sorts of different reasons - I had professional writers, people who used the group to help recover from trauma, depression and anxiety, people who had felt isolated.

"One young man with Aspergers and depression went on to self publish on Kindle and last I heard was taking a degree and working on a screenplay. Several writers went on to publish, perform in story slams and run their own groups."

Free Write meets on the second Monday of each month from 7pm - 9pm; £3.50 to cover running costs.

For information contact raggedtigerwrites@gmail.com