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| Creativity Works Newsletter |
 Read all about our current work - do get in touch for more info or help us spread the word. Click on the links below to read more:
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Celebration of our continued NPO funding from Arts Council England!
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Tue 1st July was a nerve wracking morning for many of us in the arts world. I was lucky enough to open an email at 8.30am informing me that Creativity Works had been successful in our application for further NPO funding from 2015-18. The twittersphere was buzzing with congratulations, commiserations, facts, figures and much raging against the machine.
The support and investment ACE has shown in us means that we can look forward to a future, over the next few years, in the knowledge that we have a modicum of security and a launchpad to be able to seek further investment and funding for our work.
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It does not mean, as some people bizarrely seem to imply, that just because we are receiving NPO funding our artistic ambition and innovation will cease to exist. I recognise that some visionary and provocative art has been made under the duress of poverty, by myself included on many an occasion in theatrical terms, however it is an incredibly na�ve assumption in today's world, that those receiving funding are too spoilt and comfortable to be creative in their approach to making art. Far from it! This money, alongside expert guidance, advice and networks provided by ACE, will support us to continue ground-breaking exploration in socially engaged arts and a revitalised training and development programme for artists. We will be re-launching co|Create in autumn, so do look out for a very exciting new programme of training, events and creative conversations, alongside space and support for innovation in 'The Foundry', and a dedicated digital space for Artists in 'The Bureau'.
So now, the hard work starts: a new business plan, a re-vitalised programme, and many new partners to be found. We are extremely grateful to be an NPO, but we do not take it lightly, and it certainly won't make us complacent. We will strive, as ever, to find the most creative, innovative, and beautiful ways to engage our communities and to make great art.
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2 DAYS TO GO: Call for Socially Engaged Artists
We are looking to extend our pool of Socially Engaged Artists for upcoming projects
We are looking to extend our pool of talented Socially Engaged Artists, with experience of working sensitively and creatively in order to bring about positive change within the lives of others. Our upcoming projects include work in mental health, with elders, and in community development. Our community of Artists benefit from
- Expert support and guidance
- Professional development and training opportunities (e.g. Safeguarding and Boundaries; Creative Facilitation; Social Media for Creatives)
- Networking and increased employment opportunities
To express your interest please
Send your CV and completed Artists Registration Form to: [email protected] by Deadline: This Friday the 11th July 2014 Download poster here. Registration form is available on our website here.
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Creativity Works helping create and tell the stories of Second Step's IF group
Read about this project which started in April
We were delighted when Second Step, Bristol, received funding from Awards for All and asked us to work alongside their wonderful IF group to help create and tell their individual and collective stories, as well as to help facilitate a visioning day for the partners on the Golden Key Project.
The Golden Key project is the name given to the work that a group of agencies and organisations will deliver with a group of people in Bristol who, up until now, have been failed by the system. Their aim is to enable the Golden Key group of individuals to take more control of their lives and find ways to make lasting changes. It is estimated there are at least 700 people living in Bristol who are experiencing a wide range of problems - but who are unable or unwilling to access help.
On 12 February 2014 the Big Lottery announced it was giving �10 million to Second Step and its partners to develop the programme over the next eight years. Second Step is leading a group (the Partnership Board) who will oversee the running of the programme. Other Board members are: Missing Link, St Mungo's, Avon and Somerset Probation, Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership, Bristol Drugs Project, Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group, Bristol City Council, Avon and Somerset Police and SARI.
The IF group, which stands for 'Investing in Future' has helped in the planning process and acts as a sounding board, helping with the design, delivery and review of the programme.
Artists Deborah Aguirre Jones and Eleanor Wynne Davis (Davis and Jones) www.davisandjones.co.uk with visual annotator and scribe, Laurie Stansfield, have been busy helping the IF group (since April) to create, make and tell their stories. These stories will be woven together to produce a lively installation which will then be toured around Bristol, to help reach and engage more people, sparking the telling of many more stories, and will also be exhibited at an event in late August.
Davis & Jones stated:
"So far we have really enjoyed working with the IF group for their creativity, energy and wisdom. It's always a joy to witness how creativity uncovers feelings and ideas which are hard to express in other ways."
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Creativity Works also facilitated The Vision Day, where IF Group members came together for a day with Golden Key partners to explore their shared vision for the future of the project. Alongside storyteller and facilitator, Tony Gee, participants explored how the project might develop. The group made sculptures, wrote stories and created some very interesting boxes rammed full of visual, inspiring and written ideas, solutions and next steps.
Engaging ideas and conversations resulted in a rich and varied pool of materials that can be developed in the future. Working in this way the group was able to get to know each other a little better, uncover some of their ideas and fears that can be hard to express in other ways, allow everyone's voice to be heard and to share their excitement about the potential of the Golden Key programme.
Creativity Works very much hope that this is the beginnings of a rewarding journey with the IF group, Second Step and the partnership board, which interweaves creative processes and which will bring benefits to all who take part, as well as helping to reach people furthest away from services.
|  Image by visual scribe Laurie Stansfield depicting one of the sessions with the IF group. |
 
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Reminder: Come along to the Wellbeing Festival
Friday 18th July 2014, 11am - 3.30pm, Green Park Station, Bath.
Come along to this fun and entertaining event that that will promote positive mental health and wellbeing and inform people about the groups and services available in B&NES.
There will be fete type activities, market stalls and food in the Green Park market area, and creative performance, games and workshops.
The day has been planned by a collaboration of different groups and organisations in B&NES including staff and volunteers. This will be a fun and entertaining event that promotes positive mental health and wellbeing and informs people about the groups and services available in B&NES.
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Profile: An insight into working with Creativity Works
A Focus on: Ailsa, our Enterprise Manager
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Job Title:
Enterprise Manager
When did you start working for Creativity Works?
June 2012
What is your professional background?
I stayed in Manchester for a while after my degree (Combined Studies at Manchester University which included Anthropology, Literature, the History of Science, Medicine and Technology, and any other random modules that took my fancy!)
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Alongside this I helped scope the social enterprise sector of the NW and worked with many organisations and individuals to help get their start-up businesses off the ground.
From Manchester I moved to Brighton and worked at a Steiner Waldorf School in the Communications and Fundraising team and from there moved to Bristol and South Glos Carers Support Centre as an Enterprise Development Manager. When I saw this job, I thought- "ooh that looks great" and here I am.
What does a typical day look like for Ailsa at Creativity Works?
If I am not out and about meeting people and trying to build new partnerships,
I will be looking at opportunities in potential funding bids or commissions.
At the moment we have exciting projects in Bristol around mental health and new work with elders and dementia, which I am helping to get off the ground.
What do you enjoy most about working here?
Every day is so different and there is so much to learn. I love the fusion and synthesising from all the different areas that we delve in to including socially engaged arts practice, health and social care, mental health, bringing ideas to fruition...
What do you find most challenging?
I think it is about juggling the demands and managing the expectations from all the different viewpoints: on the artists to create a wonderful end product and an outstanding participatory process; the demands from the organisation contracting you; being given the implicit trust to take risks and push boundaries; being asked to EVIDENCE your work; people constantly saying "but you are expensive!"; convincing people when they don't inherently understand or see the value of the creative process and what role it can play in transforming lives. But this is what takes time and why we are so good. So sometimes the challenging starts produce the best and most satisfying results as you see how partners, agencies, participants have begun to think and see differently.
What has been most surprising during your time so far at Creativity Works?
That I can be organised if I try very hard and that I am actually a lot more organised than I gave myself credit for! Also realising that you probably know a lot more than you think you did about all sorts of things.
What has been your biggest professional or personal achievement to date?
The many friends and great acquaintances that I have been privileged enough to work with over the years and all the things they have helped me to learn, share and make happen.
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 | | Simply click through Give as You Live every time you shop online to raise money for Creativity Works |
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Registered Charity No. 1075812 Company No. 3768255 Creativity Works for Everyone is a company limited by guarantee registered in England
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