A WREXHAM poet who gave birth to her son 12 weeks early has received funding to launch a series of creative writing sessions for parents who have gone through the same experience.

Natasha Borton, 27, from Hightown, who's son Elijah is now 14-months-old, said the project will be the first of its kind in Wales, and will allow parents from the Wrexham Maelor Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) to come together and talk about their experiences through the medium of writing.

Natasha said: "I am thrilled to receive the funding for this project. I had my son 12 weeks early at Wrexham Maelor, and we received treatment at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and Liverpool Women's Hospital over two months, finally coming back to the Maelor SCBU.

"The care on those wards is inspirational, but I missed connecting with parents or someone who knows what it felt like."

The project, entitled ''Me, You and S.C.B.U" will take place at Wrexham Enterprise Hub between October and November and has been funded by the Literature Wales 'Well-being' scheme, which was established to improve a sense of well-being across the country through the art of writing.

Alongside the sessions, parents will also be able to work with local studio-holder and photographer, Kamila Kosior. Both images and writing will be brought together in an anthology published by local independent publisher Wordwox and sold on behalf of Cherish – the charity for the Wrexham Maelor SCBU.

Natasha, who has been performing and facilitating creative writing in Wrexham and across the UK for the past five years, has represented Wales in the international Spoken Word collective 'Talking Doorsteps' with Roundhouse London and British Arts Council and taken part in '#WordsFirst' with Roundhouse London and BBC1Xtra. She now works with Voicebox in Wrexham to develop and nurture talent in the community and provide opportunities for writers to showcase their work at various venues across the county.

She added: "I hope these sessions open the conversation through our experiences and that the anthology will be a lasting legacy and comfort to parents who will find themselves on the ward unexpectedly. I found it uplifting to read letters and cards left on the ward by parents who had made it through SCBU, and I'm hoping that will be the case as well here.

"Working with Kamila Kosior on the images for the project is an exciting element for me. There were less opportunities to take pictures with our son, and a lot of moments we missed out on. The anthology itself will raise funds for the charity at Wrexham Maelor SCBU - Cherish who do tremendous work in the unit to bring parents closer to their children and provide comfort and support.

"I'm so grateful to everyone in the project so far who have invested their time and creativity, as well as Wrexham Enterprise Hub for donating the room for us to meet. It will be a wonderful experience once it all comes together."

Spaces are free for the workshops, photography and a copy of the anthology. The sessions will be on the second and fourth Friday of October (11 and 25) and November (8 and 22) from 11am until 1pm at Wrexham Enterprise Hub.