Creative Workshops
Name: Debbie Kavanagh and Sarah Grant
Base:
Melton Mowbray
Mission: To provide creative opportunities, like music, drama and art,
for people who need support.
Creative Workshops are a great success story of a service overcoming
adversity to provide a much needed opportunity in the community.
Debbie and Sarah used to work at Brooksby Melton College,
supporting people with learning disabilities. While the budget for
creative courses was decreasing and places were being cut,
they identified that demand for this kind of creative outlet,
in a personalised world, would increase.
“We saw that there was going to be a fantastic
opportunity, there was a need for these kinds of activities,
but nowhere provided them. So, we decided that we
would do it… and we did.”
The decision was made in July, and by September they were running
workshops from the scout hut in Melton. It would be easy to assume
that the business built from a foundation of clients sourced from the cut
courses at the college, however Debbie and Sarah actually faced
many challenges in developing their client base, and it was vitally
important for them to form close partnerships with the local authorities.
Misunderstanding of the type of service that Creative Workshops
intended to provide, initially led local services to label them as another
‘day service’. In reality, Debbie and Sarah prefer to describe
themselves as a community opportunity, where people can come
and learn new skills, take part in performances and display work in an
interactive, engaging and fun environment.
“We are definitely not a commissioned service, that’s not
our intention. We don’t want people to be sent here, we
would like people to come because it is their choice.”
While the idea of personalised services is still very new to a lot of
people, there is a danger that innovative services and ideas can be
mislabelled and misrepresented, slotted into more traditional boxes.
It is important to clearly convey to other professionals the nature of any
new service.
“We’re just trying to do something new, and people
sometimes find it difficult to adjust to change.”
Debbie and Sarah approached individual residents around Melton and
the surrounding areas. Through their hard work the service has begun
to speak for itself, and understanding of it has grown to a point that
local authority day services, care homes and schools have begun to
work with them.
Creative Workshops pride
themselves on providing
opportunities for local people.
The clients of the art and design
workshop have formed an
enterprise of their own, selling
their wares at Melton market,
and the dance and drama
workshop groups regularly put
on shows. The next step is to
purchase video equipment, make short films and host screenings.
“All of our activities are inspired directly by our clients.
We respond to what they want, if we were a large
organisation we couldn’t do that, we can only achieve
this because we’re small.”
Currently clients of the service are mainly people with learning
disabilities, but Creative Services are aiming to run workshops for
vulnerable people with a variety of needs.
Plans are also in place for an innovative scheme to use the skills and
facilities within the service to work with carers and families to break
down barriers and increase the understanding and awareness of
people’s needs.
All micro-entrepreneurs have two
things in common: A great idea,
and the willingness to make it
work. Too often it is easy to come
up against an attitude of, ‘that
can’t work, that won’t work’. But
Debbie and Sarah prove that a
‘can do’ attitude is essential, and
will win out in the end.
Contact:
Website:
Email:
Debbie Kavanagh on 07805 361 835
Sarah Grant on 07952 289 511
www.creativeworkshopsltd.co.uk
info@creativeworkshopsltd.co.uk
Sessions last for 3 hours and are £15 per person. First taster session is free.