Hot Flush

18/10/2026

Big thanks to Barnstaple Library for supporting the launch of the Hot Flush Zine and hosting Engage Your Rage: The Menopause Rewrite.

Thanks to all the attendees, too. It was a really meaningful afternoon of creativity & conversation 💕

Pictured are three of the seven Hot Flush contributors (L to R) Nicky Ruddick, Sharon Gale and Kate German.

Other zine contributors are: Coleen Duff, Karina Digby-Jones, Amanda Lynch and Mary Mulholland.

15/10/2026

Coming up this Saturday, 17th October, 2-4pm at Barnstaple Library is the launch of Hot Flush Zine: Pilot Project 🥳

A creative zine exploring the lived experience of perimenopause and menopause through art, writing & storytelling.

Contributors: Mary Mulholland, Nicky Ruddick, Coleen Duff, Amanda Lynch, Karina Digby-Jones, Kate German & me, Sharon Gale.

If you can’t make it, the zines can be purchased via the Hot Flush. Link in comments 👀

12/10/2026

Sketch books are ready for the first Engage Your Rage Art Club.
Starts on Weds 14th Oct, 7-9pm

If you haven’t booked yet but wanted to, details are below…

The Wrens Nest, Westward Ho!
Wednesdays: 14th & 28th October, 11th & 25th November 2026
7–9pm
£80 for all four sessions, including main materials
A small number of concessionary places are available for £60
No previous art experience needed
Places are limited

Booking link in comments 👇

29/09/2026

Bookings are coming in 🤩 Please do reserve your space if you’re interested in attending.

You’ve all waited SO patiently for this… we’re absolutely thrilled to announce that our first workshop will be held by the wonderful Hot Flush & you can now head to the link below to book ⭐️🩷

Engage Your Rage a new female-focused creative club that helps women navigate menopause, but also any women who feels like they need to, well, engage their rage!

The first project will be Neck Shrines, focused on creating wearable art with attitude. This will be a four-session, bi-weekly course.

Everything you need to know is in the posters above, but feel free to reach out to us, or Sharon, if you have any questions.

There are only 8 places remaining, and very few concessionary places left.

We’re so excited for this one! 🩷

Book here: https://www.collectitapp.com/the-wrens-nest/workshops

22/09/2026

Engage Your Rage Art Club is now open for bookings!

We’re really excited to introduce Engage Your Rage, a new women-focused creative art club in Westward Ho! If you fancy trying something different, making things, meeting people and having a bit of fun along the way, then read on for more info.

The details:
• The Wrens Nest, Westward Ho!
• Wednesdays: 14 & 28 October, 11 & 25 November 2026
• 7–9pm
• £80 for all four sessions, including main materials
• A small number of concessionary places are available for £60
• No previous art experience needed
• Places are limited

➡️ See comments for the link to book your place

Our first project is:
✨ NECK SHRINES: Wearable Art With Attitude ✨

Over four fortnightly sessions at The Wrens Nest in Westward Ho!, we’ll explore assemblage, collage, colour, words, found objects and personal symbolism to create our own unique wearable neck shrines.

Part jewellery, part sculpture, part personal statement.
What does your shrine celebrate? What are you carrying? What are you done with? And what would you like to shout about?

There’s no need to be ‘good at art’, and no pressure to produce a masterpiece. Just a relaxed, beginner-friendly space to make, experiment, learn, chat and connect. And yes, there’ll be tea, biscuits and the occasional rant. ☕️

Although Engage Your Rage has grown from Hot Flush and conversations around perimenopause and menopause, this isn’t a menopause support group. Creativity comes first. Menopause might be part of the conversation, or it might not; there’s absolutely no pressure to share anything personal.

Engage Your Rage aims to create a welcoming, supportive space where people can make things, learn, connect and have fun. If you have any questions about whether the group is right for you, you’re very welcome to contact [email protected]

➡️ See comments to book your place

Make Stuff. Feel Better.

19/09/2026

Engage Your Rage Art Club is coming to Westward Ho! 💕

Details to be announced soon.

11/09/2026

We’re really excited to be bringing Engage Your Rage to Barnstaple Library 💕

As part of their International Menopause Day celebrations, we’ll be facilitating The Menopause Rewrite, a creative collage and mixed-media workshop inspired by artist Tom Phillips’ A Humument.

We’ll be taking an existing book and playing with its pages to create something completely new, exploring identity, change and transformation through the menopause journey.

Saturday 17 October · 2–4pm, Barnstaple Library Foyer
FREE - donations welcome

You’ll create your own Menopause Humument, taking back the story one page at a time.

And there’s lots more happening at the library too, including a fashion accessories swap and a 60s/70s/80s Silent Disco!

Booking link in comments 💕

We’d love to see some familiar faces, and some new ones too!

26/07/2026

There’s a ✨NEW✨feature on the blog called ‘The Flush Files’ where we hand the page to someone with a story to tell. Sometimes it will make you laugh, sometimes it will make you think, and often it will do both.

This month, artist and writer Nicky Ruddick reflects on an advert that asked whether her hands were ‘betraying’ her age, and why she’s no longer prepared to let the beauty industry write that story for her.

👀 Read it here > https://bit.ly/45pH4Sm

Image: Fighting the Seven Signs of Ageing. Collage and pen on paper. By

10/04/2026

Ever wish there was a space to talk about menopause… without it turning into a lecture, a list of symptoms, or a sales pitch?

This is that space.

Join us for a relaxed, welcoming meet-up where the conversation is led by whoever’s in the room. No speaker this time, just real talk, shared experiences, and the comfort of knowing you’re not the only one figuring it all out.

What to expect:
• Free to attend (refreshments available from the Growforward café)
• Participant-led, no fixed agenda, just natural conversation
• No selling, no pressure, completely impartial
• A respectful, confidential space
• Friendly, informal, and far from clinical

This session is a women-only space, designed to support open and honest conversation.

You don’t need to have anything prepared. You don’t have to share if you don’t want to. Just come as you are.

💕 Sometimes it helps just to be in the room.

Hot Flush Menopause Meet-up
(women-only session)
📆 Tuesday 28th April
⏰ 1pm–2.15pm
📍 The Growforward Project
🆓 No need to book, just turn up

19/03/2026

Walking can really help you "connect with yourself and your surroundings. While you can use walking to achieve fitness goals, it’s a fabulous way to improve your mental health."

This Saturday, 21st March, 10am, join Wander Women North Devon at The Growforward Project, Chelfham Mill, Barnstaple EX32 7LA, for a new walk.

See comments below to read an article by Dr Louise Newson about the benefits of walking.

🌟 Celebrate the start of Spring with a beautiful walk off the beaten track, through the countryside surrounding Chelfham Mill and Shirwell, together with fabulous ladies who inspire and uplift you ✨️🦸‍♀️🌱🏞

🌟 Hill warning! This walk is across hilly terrain with a steep climb out of the Chelfham Mill valley, the views are 😍 you will need to have a good level of fitness and be comfortable walking several sections of ascent 🏞🌿🌳⛰️

🌟 Chelfham Mill - Shirwell Spring Celebration Walk 🌿🚶🏻‍♀️🏞🌱

🌟 Saturday 21st March 10am 🤩

🌟 Special thanks to the Growforward Project for use of their car park 🙏

🌟 Please click the link in the comments for all walk details ⤵️

🌟 Looking forward to striding into spring together - hope to meet you there 🚶🏻‍♀️🏞🌿💕