When you meet Charli Streete, you can’t help but feel her energy. With an infectious mix of warmth, wisdom, and unstoppable passion, she’s the founder of Think Big Do Bigger CIC, a community interest company that’s reshaping how Gosport connects and grows, all through the unexpected medium of art.
But Charli’s journey to this point wasn’t a straight line.
“I’d spent years working in homelessness and mental health services,” she explains. “It was meaningful work, but overwhelming too, with more referrals coming in and services overstretched. I’d just had a baby, and I realised I was burning out, losing the passion that first drove me.”
After two more years of pushing through, burnout finally led Charli to step away in 2023. What followed was part reinvention, part rediscovery. She began coaching, but it didn’t feel quite right. “I didn’t want to charge a fortune for something that should be accessible, to everyone” she says. “Ethically, it sat in a funny place for me.”
Then came a return to something she’d loved all her life: art.
Reflecting with art led to ‘Think Big Do Bigger’
Through mindful art and blackout poetry, Charli found not just a tool for personal reflection but a way to help others access their inner thoughts and emotions, open up difficult conversations, and engage people who often face barriers.
This sparked the idea of bringing art into less expected places, such as businesses and charities, through the use of workplace reflective practice, which is a unique approach designed to get to the heart of people’s thoughts and opinions in a safe, creative environment. “Workplace reflective practice is used within NHS and social care and is seen as best practice for third sector organisations such as those in the homelessness sector – it’s about reflecting on experiences and extracting the learning to build resilience,” says Charlie.
“I essentially go into businesses or charities and talk to the people that use the service, but I talk to them in a really creative way,” Charli explains. “It opens their minds to new ways of thinking that can really benefit their lives.” I ask if everyone is open to participation and Charli says It can sometimes take people a while to build connections. “There’s no expectation to talk or share. It’s a low-pressure environment,” she says,
What began as a personal rediscovery soon blossomed into delivering community workshops and eventually into Think Big Do Bigger CIC: a space where creativity, reflection, and co-production meet.
“I love that art can give people freedom to really express how they are feeling about a subject, with no judgment.”
Through blackout poetry, where participants cut words from a text to create new meanings, Charli discovered just how transformative these methods could be. “People create something that gives shape to what they’ve been feeling but couldn’t always express,” she says.
“I will give you an example,” Charlie leans out of her seat. “I once delivered a workshop to a group who were sufferers of domestic violence. The art that was produced was so powerful, with some participants later saying that the art summed up their journey and how they were feeling, and that they would put it in their house so that in the future it inspires them to reflect on their journey and how far they have come. That to me, is so powerful.”
Clearly, these aren’t your average workshops that are being delivered. “Instead of clipboards and surveys, we use art to draw out voices that are too often unheard. Whether it’s young people, frontline workers, or community groups, I create safe, low-pressure spaces for people to reflect, connect, and be honest.”
Charli’s methods range from creative research to co-produced heritage projects, right through to reflective practice with charities and businesses. “Each strand has one goal: to amplify voices that matter,” she explains.
Creating an impact in Gosport
In Gosport, Charli’s work is already making ripples. With support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, her Between the Lines project uses blackout poetry to connect residents with the town’s heritage. By reworking Victorian texts or local historical documents, communities reinterpret the past while sharing their own stories in the present.
“We’ve also worked with groups like Motiv8,” Charli says, “Giving young people a chance to talk about what it’s like to grow up here and how the area can be improved. These are voices that aren’t usually heard, but they should be.”
The future of creativity
Asked what’s next, Charli doesn’t hesitate. “long-term, I want to see creativity used to reach people who wouldn’t normally have a voice. Their thoughts and experiences are valid and important. We’re doing it already in Gosport, but I’d love to see this become standard practice everywhere.”
With over 300 people already taking part in her workshops, and demand growing, Charli has become a pillar of Gosport’s community, which is a powerful reminder that art isn’t just decoration. It’s dialogue, connection, and sometimes, the first step toward healing.
Think Big Do Bigger may have started as Charli’s personal rediscovery, but in Gosport, it’s becoming something much greater: a movement.