Neurodivergent Arts CIC
Neurodivergent Arts CIC creates creative, wellbeing and development spaces where difference is welcomed, confidence can grow, and people can build connection, transferable skills, employability and opportunity at their own pace.
Who we are
Neurodivergent Arts CIC uses creativity to build community and opportunity for neurodivergent people and people with SEND.
Our work begins with people. We create spaces where lived experience is valued, different ways of thinking and communicating are welcomed, and creative practice supports wellbeing, confidence, transferable skills and employability.
How the work is shaped
Our work moves through three connected pathways. They are not separate routes. They overlap, strengthen one another and create a living network of support, creativity and opportunity.
Creative wellbeing spaces for connection, confidence, belonging and self-expression.
Community work centres on a monthly adult art group, alongside one-off community events made possible through successful funding, such as the Nia Community Movement Days.
Explore Community →Creative projects shaped by lived experience, community voice and neurodivergent leadership.
Our most recent project, City Reflections, was a light installation exploring Southampton's city maps and walls, created with the local neurodivergent community in partnership with Southampton Forward.
Explore Culture →Creative development spaces that support transferable skills, confidence and sustainable opportunity.
This pathway currently includes volunteering, facilitator development and work readiness, with an apprenticeship scheme in development.
Explore this pathway →A living network
There are already brilliant pockets of creative, community and neurodivergent-led work happening locally and nationally. Neurodivergent Arts CIC helps connect those dots – not as a straight line, but as a living network.
Like a mycelial network, the work grows through relationship, trust, shared knowledge and opportunity.
We connect people, projects, partners and places so that creativity can lead to belonging, visibility, confidence and supported progression.
Employability & Professional Development
YER is the flagship programme within our Employability & Professional Development pathway.
YER combines lived experience and professional expertise to offer structured development that builds belief, work sustainability and readiness.
The Youth Employment Ready Programme is a structured, locally rooted programme for young people aged 18-24 who are NEET (not in education, employment or training), with a focus on young people who are neurodivergent, SEND or on Universal Credit.
YER supports young people to build confidence, wellbeing, transferable skills and work readiness through creative skills sessions, employability workshops, one-to-one coaching and supported workplace experience.
The programme uses a creative, relational and phased model. It helps young people recognise what they already bring, evidence the skills they are developing and translate their experience into clear employability language over time.
YER creates supported pathways into volunteering, placements, interviews, apprenticeships, training and employment, while recognising that sustainable progression often needs a phased route into work.
YER is funded by the Bishopstoke, Fair Oak & Horton Heath; Chandler's Ford & Hiltingbury; and Eastleigh Local Area Committees.
Find your way in
Take part in creative wellbeing groups, art sessions, workshops and community projects.
Come along to exhibitions, creative programmes, workshops and community activities.
Partner with us on creative projects, cultural programmes, YER, placements, commissions or community provision.
Support Neurodivergent Arts CIC through funding, partnership, space, resources or opportunities.
Rooted in community
Neurodivergent Arts CIC is shaped by lived experience, creative practice and community voice.
We believe creativity can help people connect, regulate, express, reflect, build confidence and recognise the skills they already carry.
The work grows through trust, relationship and shared opportunity – creating spaces where people are welcomed as they are and supported to move forward in ways that make sense for them.
Whether you would like to join a group, explore a partnership, support YER, commission a workshop or have a conversation about the work, we would love to hear from you.
