A CHARITY which encourages disabled people to explore their creative potential through art is appealing for volunteers to help at its workshops during the coming term.

The Art Ministry in Hadleigh wants eager residents to come forward and offer their free time to work with its members.

The charity runs several classes for budding artists with disabilities and is due to restart them again next month.

Volunteers are needed to help at a session for children with learning difficulties, which is held every Monday between 5pm and 7pm.

Helpers are also sought for a class for blind and partially-sighted adults, which runs on Mondays between 11am and 1pm, and a session for adults with physical disabilities which is run on Tuesdays between 11am and 1pm.

David Cotton, 67, whose wife Angela, 68, set up the Art Ministry, said: "Volunteers do not have to have any particular artistic skills, but they need to have patience, the ability to listen and they have to be prepared to work one-on-one.

"Very often members may wish to be passed the paint or may want help washing a brush.

"Volunteers have the chance to build up remarkable friendships with members. It has happened in many cases in the past. The reward comes from knowing they've helped someone and they appreciate it."

During the workshops, artists work with a range of media, including pottery watercolours, mosaics and collages.

Mr Cotton added: "The classes undoubtedly increased members' self-esteem. We had one chap in his sixties who could barely move his right arm.

"We got him doing some pottery and weaving and the change in him was remarkable."

All the classes are held in the art room next to the United Reformed Church in Church Road.

For more information on volunteering, or to make a donation towards the running of the Art Ministry workshops, call 01702 559853, or e-mail david_angela@tiscali.co.uk