Joanna Foster
LightNews LightNews
banner
fabticfoster.bsky.social
Joanna Foster
@fabticfoster.bsky.social
330 followers 20 following 350 posts
Head of fabtic, working with children, young people and practitioners. Author of 'Children and Teenagers Who Set Fires'. Proud to be Valleys Welsh in England.
Posts Replies Media Videos
fabticfoster.bsky.social
The #RedShoes project, part of the #Resilience #exhibition of 2025, is on tour

Its installation at Cynon Valley #Museum is entitled ‘Tangled Narratives’ and has expanded to include other #creative pieces and artists

Very proud to feature in the exhibition and speak at the opening event

Do join me
An grey and white invite patterned with faded handwriting. The invite reads, “An invitation to the opening of Tangled narratives and other stories - reimagined 14 February 2026 2pm - 4pm Cynon Valley Museum, Depot Road, Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, CF44 8DL Tea and cake to celebrate contact liz davis davis.home@btopenworld. com Featuring a collaborative work The Red Shoes - inspired by The Red Dress and curated by Liz Davis; an installation by Georgina Righton; a mixed media collection by Andrea Davis Intertwined; Will Pettit - A Silence of Broken Wings and more.
January 29, 2026 at 6:21 PM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
And this is how the words of Pastor Martin Niemöller resonate with what’s happening now in Gaza

Words reworked by Steve Pottinger, 2024
Poster for ‘First They Came’ after Pastor Martin Niemoller. “First they came for the hospitals and you did not speak out except to say they wouldn't, and anyway, tunnels. Then they came for five-year-old Hind and you did not speak out except to say, regrettable, but anyway, hostages. Then they came for journalists, professors, poets and you did not speak out except to say, awful, but right to self-defence. They came for schools, mosques, aid workers, anyone in the sights of a sniper and you did not speak out except to say, yeah, but most moral army. Now they come for starving people in tents and burn them, and you do not speak out you do not speak out you never speak out. When they come for you expect nothing but silence.” © Steve Pottinger 14 October 2024
January 28, 2026 at 4:36 PM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
The words of German pastor Martin Niemöller continue to resonate decades later

Human beings appear to have a remarkable ability to minimise and repeat past harms and horrors against each other, seemingly learning very little across generations

#HolocaustMemorialDay
Extract from the Holocaust Encyclopaedia that reads, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out - because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out - because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me. This quote is attributed to the prominent German pastor Martin Niemöller. It is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a poem. After World War II, Niemöller openly spoke about his own early complicity in Nazism and his eventual change of heart. His powerful words about guilt and responsibility still resonate today.”
January 27, 2026 at 5:23 PM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
“Whatever be my degree,

I'll look to mysel,

and I'll think o' mysel,”

~ Robert Burns

#SelfCareSunday

#BurnsNight”
Extract that reads, “When I was a little girl in Arkansas, I began to read Burns and I couldn't figure out the language he was using. I've always loved puzzles, though, and I got a dictionary. I did my best, and eventually I did work out what he was saying and I loved it. His spirit was a humanitarian spirit, he was able to love human beings, and his imagination was vast.” Maya Angelou on Robert Burns.
January 25, 2026 at 11:16 PM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
I love how January brings the chance to turn a page and start our own, brand new chapter

@joyfoster.bsky.social
A hand holding a diary open at pages marked day 1 and day 2 with space to write what made you smile today and to draw happy things.
January 19, 2026 at 11:19 PM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
"I just decided, when someone says you can't do something. DO MORE OF IT."

~ Faith Ringgold, African American artist and author

Thanks to @womensartbluesky.bsky.social for first sharing this quote and drawing attention to Faith’s words and work

#MondayMotivation
Side headshot of African American artist and author Faith Ringgold as an older woman. Faith is wearing a red headscarf and decorative earrings and necklace with her hair in a long pleated lock.
January 19, 2026 at 8:22 AM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
Listening to @classicfm.com as I cook a comforting casserole for the working week ahead

#JoyInTheLittleThings

#SelfCareSunday
Quote that says “Cook now, thank yourself later”.
January 18, 2026 at 9:21 PM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
How lucky am I that this afternoon’s walk to a work meeting took me past #SnoopyInTheCity

Who cares about the rain?

It’s #Snoopy

In. London.

What’s not to love?

#FleetStreet

#LondonIsOpen

#Grateful
An installation by City Thameslink, London of Snoopy lying on the roof of his home, which is decorated with Christmas stockings. An installation by City Thameslink, London of Snoopy lying on the roof of his home, which is decorated with Christmas stockings. An installation by City Thameslink, London of Snoopy lying on the roof of his home, which is decorated with Christmas stockings. The map of the Snoopy in the City art installations across the Fleet Street Quarter, London.
January 15, 2026 at 1:47 PM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
Watching dancer Maya Inniss perform live is nothing short of majestic

Every sinew of her body breathes with pure artistry and might

Her latest piece ‘Humble Power, Quiet Might’ combines her brilliance as a dancer with her skillful #poetry and art

#Res26

#Res26MayaInniss

#ExploreDance

#ThePlace
Flyer for ‘Humble Power, Quiet Might’ created and performed by Maya Inniss at The Place, London on Saturday 10 January at 7.30pm.
January 10, 2026 at 9:49 PM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
Thank you, dear Anand

As @scriblit.bsky.social said, I can't fully understand the terror your brother and you faced, and I'm so sorry this happened and keeps happening

I also know being a woman doesn’t give me a get out of jail card about my white privilege, and all that I don’t have to face daily
Quote that reads, "THE VICTIMS OF OPPRESSION AND INJUSTICE DON'T NEED OUR SPASMS OF PASSION, BUT OUR LONG OBEDIENCE IN THE SAME DIRECTION." By Gary Haugen.
January 8, 2026 at 11:34 AM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
Librería de Mujeres, Santa Cruz, #Tenerife

The women’s bookshop is owned by two sisters whose father was originally from the #BasqueCountry

Their bookshelves and the many works held within offer an oasis of calm and #hope in a world being set on fire by angry white men

#Books

#Feminism
Pages of books pegged on lines hung across the ceiling of the Women’s Bookshop in Santa Cruz, Tenerife. Framed painting on the wall of the women’s bookshop in Santa Cruz, Tenerife of a woman at reading a book. Other framed pictures surround the painting alongside a free standing shelf with books and a teapot. An ebony bust of a black woman on a shelf of books. A free Palestine tote bag hanging next to a shelf of books.
January 7, 2026 at 4:36 PM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
Hope

Always rebellious #hope
Screenshot of a GIF with the word “hopeful” captured.
January 5, 2026 at 10:25 AM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
An @oxfamgb.bsky.social charity shop with a piano welcoming shoppers to play

What’s not to love?

#Dalston

#SaturdayVibes

#JoyInTheLittleThings
A Waldstein piano in an Oxfam shop with a handwritten note that says, “Piano is not for sale but free to play”.
January 3, 2026 at 4:03 PM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
No denying #Evri delivered my parcel to the right person

Check out those dragon slippers in my proof of delivery email

You can take the girl out of the Valleys…
Photo of a hallway and a parcel being handed over to the resident who is wearing a dark green jumper, black leggings and dragon slippers. The dragons are green with white horns and orange eyes.
January 2, 2026 at 3:32 PM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
A dusting of snow, the bright winter sun and shadows have turned an ordinary #StNeots pavement into a piece of art
Circular paving stones with snow between the cracks. The sun is hitting the ground, casting shadows. Circular paving stones with snow between the cracks.
January 2, 2026 at 1:32 PM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
“Seek newness”

#NewYear intentions as inspired by Japanese illustrator Yuko Shimizu and shared by @womensartbluesky.bsky.social
Image by Japanese illustrator Yuko Shimizu of a woman wearing long pink and black striped socks and a pink and black striped bathing suit diving head first into a mottled pink whirlpool inscribed with the words “Seek Newness” x x x
January 1, 2026 at 2:35 PM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
Cwtched in under a blanket, drinking tea, listening to @cerysmatthews.bsky.social and reading my free book from #LiverpoolLittleBookStop

Oh, I wish it could be Christmas every day

#Grateful

#SelfCareSunday

#HomeGoing
The book ‘Home Going’ by Yaa Gyasi resting on a Welsh wool blanket in mustard, white and black.
December 28, 2025 at 11:46 AM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
Your style attracts your tribe, Des.

Talking of which, I’m so very glad to be a happy follower and member of your clan here. Your daily posts bring joy and hope in a world that feels like it’s on fire.

May you and your loved ones know every peace and joy at Christmas, and throughout the new year.
Illustration of a nighttime winter scene with a girl, dog and other animals sat by a bonfire. Out of the smoke of the fire rises a bear and an angel into the starry night sky.
December 24, 2025 at 1:17 PM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
In the words of Whitehouse, Mortimer and Ted…

…And away…

#GoneFishing

#SelfCare
Out of office message that says, Thank you for contacting fabtic. The fabtic office is closed for the Christmas and New Year festivities until Monday 12 January 2026. No emails, calls or messages will be accessed over this time but answered as soon as possible when the office re-opens. If you are emailing with concerns for a child or teenager setting fires, please contact your local fire service for advice and support. With warmest seasonal greetings, Joanna Foster. Managing Director fabtic www.fabtic.co.uk
December 23, 2025 at 7:10 AM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
Imagine the personal journey that could happen if we reflected on the last year and made a note of what about ourselves we would keep and nurture

With resolution

#SelfCareSunday
Illustration of the words, “I am enough”.
December 21, 2025 at 7:56 PM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
Just when I think my weekly listen to @cerysmatthews.bsky.social can’t get any better, I discover the word crumpet originates from the Welsh language

J.R.R. Tolkien wasn’t wrong when he said Welsh is of this soil, this island and is the senior language of Britain

I wonder what he made of Mari Lwyd
Mari Lwyd and a group of women at the bar of a pub in Pontypridd.
December 21, 2025 at 11:54 AM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
Well, really.

@dinahrose.bsky.social
Screenshot of today’s Wordle with the centre letter G and remaining letters N L A D E M. The guess of the word Magdalen is “not in word list”.
December 21, 2025 at 8:49 AM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
My LinkedIn post about the risks faced by lone working staff within fire services has resonated beyond the UK

Many of these frontline staff are women, visiting children and adults in their homes without sufficient measures in place for their safety as they work

www.linkedin.com/posts/joanna...
LinkedIn post highlighting examples of risks posed to female lone workers from the fire service, including men masturbating in front of them and the presence of firearms. LinkedIn post highlighting the absence of safety measures for lone workers from the fire service, including no checking in and out procedures for home visits. LinkedIn post that concludes, “until systemic change comes to lone working practices, be it driven by the NFCC, the FBU or the inspectorate, I fear we are waiting to add the name of a fire service member of staff to those of Suzy Lamplugh, Belinda Rose and Jenny Morrison.”
December 18, 2025 at 3:01 PM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
Joyful to find @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social has written a festive tale for @bigissue.com

It’s lightened my rainy coach journey and provided a needed antidote to the miserly offerings in the letters page

Curse those “selfish people who have more than two children when they can’t afford them”

FFS
Page of the Big Issue magazine featuring 'Pax: A Festive Tale' by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. The black and white illustration depicts a mother and child stood outside a house in winter coats, boots and hats, peering through a downstairs window. Inside is sat a man with a black cat.
December 15, 2025 at 3:46 PM
fabticfoster.bsky.social
“No one has the right to do wrong, even if wrong has been done to them'

~ Viktor E. Frankl

As shared by @calmerfuture.bsky.social
Image of a sewn red heart on a black background. The heart is broken in half and sewn back together with white thread. The trail of the white thread makes a heart shape.
December 15, 2025 at 8:29 AM