Looking Back and Spring Forward
I don’t often blog – running an amazing social enterprise pretty much takes up all my time – and writing bids to keep it all going seems to channel my need to put pen to paper – or the digital equivalent!
But this month – March 26 – has been extraordinary – and yet completely ordinary – for the amazing work the team at Create produces, enables and connects. So I just wanted to share that before I get into the swing of Spring and look to a new financial year in April.
So what did March hold for Create?
- We said goodbye to our latest Create Futures cohort who had spent 10 weeks working alongside the Production Team and running independent projects too. Highlights were their contributions to Prospect House which was for a men’s mental health walk which is on Saturday 18th April which we are also filming, plus a music video with Way Studios and helped with Sofa Screening reels. Check out our alumni achievements here.
- We recruited for the next Create Futures cohort of 5 young digital producers wanting a step into creative digital industries – see above – you get the idea! Look out for the next call out here.
- We hosted the Tangle annual celebration of Global Majority Theatre & Performance Arts in our fab new Studio Space. The space filled with live music, dance and theatre was a joy for the 100 who joined.
- We hosted Swindon Culture Collective’s first seminar and we spoke about our experience of Partnerships and securing funding as part of the panel addressing over 30 delegates.
- We mentored 12 young people on work experience over 3 days who developed a Social Media campaign for the wonderful Sofa Screenings.
- Our NLHF supported Kahaani (Story) project documenting 50 South Asian heritage stories from the SW continued to reach audiences through its regional tour. And the new Education Resource was launched and is now available on the website.
- The exhibition is now live at the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre and the Swindon Central Library.
- We completed a bid to the BFI Audience Development fund for a 2 year programme to bring co-curation and safe community cinema experiences to audiences across Swindon Wilts and Glos – fingers crossed that Cinematic Sanctuary can go live in the summer! You can see our current Sofa Screenings offer here
- We are in partnership working with Swindon Culture Collective, The City of Culture campaign, GWR Hospital and more to make sure excellent digital content backs all of the important initiatives shaping our region.
And that was just March – you can see why I wanted to share – this and more happened in the last few weeks – and continues every week thanks to the fab team, partners and funders who make Create such a joy.
Thanks everyone and I’m looking forward to April!
Shahina Johnson