Spotlight on Crafting Change CIC
In our latest member spotlight, we’re thrilled to be joined by Claire-Louise Coney, Director at Crafting Change CIC.
What does your social enterprise do, and why do you do it?
Crafting Change CIC is a Glasgow-based social enterprise supporting people who have lived through childhood trauma, domestic abuse, homelessness, harmful coping patterns and long periods of instability to rebuild safety, confidence and practical independence.
Our work sits in the gap between crisis services and independent living. We are not a clinical service. We offer practical, trauma-informed support that helps people reconnect with everyday skills, structure, creativity, self-trust and community.
At the heart of our work is the CREATE Method™. CREATE stands for Check In, Reclaim, Express, Align, Trust and Emerge. It is a practical framework that helps people begin again at their own pace, without pressure to disclose more than they are ready to share.
We deliver this through workshops, group programmes and practical resources. We aim to support people to move from just getting through the day to building a life that feels safer, steadier and more their own.
I founded Crafting Change CIC because I know how easily people can fall through the gaps once the immediate crisis has passed. Support often focuses on survival, but there is not always enough practical help for rebuilding afterwards. That is where Crafting Change CIC comes in.
This work matters because trauma not only affects what happened in the past. It can affect someone’s home, body, relationships, confidence, routines, finances and sense of future. Practical, compassionate support can help people feel more in control of their lives again.
Crafting Change CIC is about turning lived experience into practical change, and making sure people are not left to rebuild alone.
What products, services and/or experiences do you currently offer?
Crafting Change CIC currently offers trauma-informed workshops, group programmes, practical resources and partnership work for organisations supporting people who are rebuilding after trauma, instability or crisis.
Our main offer is the CREATE Programme™, which is built around the CREATE Method™:
Check In, Reclaim, Express, Align, Trust and Emerge.
The programme can be delivered as a 3-hour introductory workshop or as a longer group programme. It supports people to build safety, confidence, routine, self-trust and practical independence through creative and everyday activities.
We currently offer:
Trauma-informed creative workshops
Practical sessions using creative activities, reflection and body awareness tools to help people reconnect with themselves in a safe and manageable way.
The CREATE Programme™
A structured group programme designed for councils, charities, housing services, community organisations and health partnerships. It supports people beyond immediate crisis and into rebuilding.
Practical workbooks and resources
Printable and digital resources linked to the CREATE Method™, trauma insight, emotional regulation and everyday rebuilding.
Beyond the Broken Pieces
My book is part memoir, part trauma-informed toolkit. It shares lived experience, practical tools and the CREATE Method™ that now sits at the heart of Crafting Change CIC.
Partnership workshops for organisations
Short workshops and pilot sessions for services that want practical, lived experience-led support for the people they work alongside.
A Glasgow Southside pilot programme
We are preparing to deliver a free 12-week pilot for women in Glasgow Southside, helping shape the programme through real community feedback before wider delivery.
Everything we offer is grounded in practical action, choice, dignity and safety. People do not need to share their personal story to take part. The focus is on helping them begin where they are and build steady next steps.
What’s your personal motivation?
My personal motivation comes from both lived experience and frontline practice.
I know what it is like to grow up without safety, stability or the right support around you. I also know what it takes to rebuild afterwards, not in a polished way, but in a real-life way. Through small steps, practical tools, safe people, structure, creativity, and learning to trust yourself again.
I have also spent many years working in adult social care, supporting people whose lives have been shaped by trauma, poverty, disability, crisis and systems that do not always have the time or resources to see the full person in front of them.
I founded Crafting Change CIC because I could see the gap.
There are crisis services doing vital work. There are clinical services doing vital work. But there are many people who still need practical support once the immediate danger has passed. They need help rebuilding confidence, routine, identity, independence and a sense of future.
That is what drives me.
This work is personal, but it is not only about my story. It is about what I built from it, and how that can be used to help others.
My motivation is to turn lived experience into practical change. To create spaces where people do not have to disclose everything they have been through to receive support. To offer tools that help people begin again, one steady step at a time.
My mission is:
Stand with the ones who’ve lived it.
Lead for the ones who need it.
What is next on the horizon for your social enterprise, and how do you plan to get there?
Next on the horizon for Crafting Change CIC is moving from early visibility and pilot delivery into paid partnership work with organisations across Glasgow and the wider third sector.
We are preparing to deliver a free 12-week pilot programme in Glasgow Southside, alongside introductory workshops with organisations that support people affected by trauma, domestic abuse, homelessness, harmful coping patterns and long periods of instability.
The aim is to use this pilot stage to gather feedback, strengthen the programme, evidence impact and build relationships with services that can commission the CREATE Programme™ longer term.
Our next steps are:
- Deliver the Glasgow Southside pilot
- Gather participant feedback and impact evidence
- Build partnerships with charities, housing services, councils and health-related organisations
- Develop the CREATE Programme™ into a paid 10-week group programme
- Continue using Beyond the Broken Pieces as a way to open conversations about trauma, practical recovery and lived experience-led change
- Grow a bank of practical resources, workbooks and workshops that services can use with the people they support
The long term goal is for Crafting Change CIC to become a trusted trauma-informed bridge between crisis services and independent living.
We plan to get there by staying rooted in real community need, building strong partnerships, gathering evidence as we grow, and making sure the people this work is for continue to shape what we build.
This is not about creating another service that speaks over people.
It is about creating practical support that meets people where they are, helps them rebuild steadiness and confidence, and gives organisations another way to support people after a crisis.
What’s the hardest thing you’ve had to overcome in your social enterprise journey?
The hardest thing I have had to overcome is visibility.
Not because I do not believe in the work, but because putting yourself forward when your work is rooted in lived experience takes a different kind of courage.
For a long time, I felt I had to be more qualified, more polished or further ahead before I could speak about what I was building. There has been a lot of imposter syndrome in that. Even with years of frontline social care experience, volunteering, training and lived experience, I still had to work through the feeling of, “Who am I to do this?”
But I have realised that the question is not, “Who am I?”
The question is, “Who needs this work?”
Crafting Change CIC exists because there is a real gap between crisis services and independent living. People need practical, trauma-informed support that helps them rebuild safety, confidence and steadiness in everyday life.
The hardest part has been letting the work be seen while it is still growing. Speaking about it publicly. Sharing the mission. Reaching out to organisations. Putting myself forward for opportunities like this.
But I know visibility is part of the responsibility now.
If I stay quiet, the work stays small.
And this work is too important to stay small.
What is your most satisfying achievement so far?
My most satisfying moment so far has been seeing my book, Beyond the Broken Pieces, become a bestseller on Amazon UK.
That moment meant more than a ranking. It was proof that a story I once carried in silence was now reaching people who may need to feel less alone. The book is part memoir and part trauma-informed toolkit, and it introduces the CREATE Method™ that now sits at the heart of Crafting Change CIC.
For me, the achievement was not just publishing the book. It was turning lived experience into something practical, useful and hopeful for others. That is what made it so powerful.
Who in the social enterprise community inspires you and why?
The people in the social enterprise community who inspire me most are the ones who started because they saw a need right in front of them and did something about it.
I am especially inspired by May Nicholson and the story behind The Preshal Trust. What began with tea, toast, and a safe place for people experiencing homelessness, addiction and isolation has grown into practical support, community, learning, creativity and dignity. That kind of work speaks to me deeply because it proves that change does not always begin with a huge strategy. Sometimes it begins with one person seeing the worth in people who have been overlooked.
I am also inspired by grassroots social enterprises across Glasgow and Scotland who are working quietly and consistently in communities, often without big recognition, helping people rebuild confidence, connection and stability.
That is the kind of social enterprise I want Crafting Change CIC to be part of. One that is grounded, practical and built around real lives. One that stands with people, not above them.
What top tips would you give to other social enterprises?
- Stick to your values and mission, especially when it gets hard.
- There will be moments where you are tempted to shape your work around what funders want, what sounds impressive, or what everyone else seems to be doing. But if you lose the heart of why you started, the work loses its strength.
- Be clear on the people you serve, the problem you are trying to solve, and the change you are here to make. Let that guide your decisions, partnerships, pricing, applications and opportunities.
- My biggest tip would be this: do not build something that looks good on paper but does not feel right in practice. Build something useful, honest and rooted in the people who need it.
- Also, do not wait until everything is perfect before you begin. Start where you are, learn as you go, gather evidence, listen properly, and keep coming back to the mission. That is what will carry you through the difficult parts.
For more information about Crafting Change CIC, please visit their Instagram and LinkedIn.
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