We are very pleased to annouce that Pippa Jones (or Philippa Claire Jones as we now know her!) has been an awarded an MBE in the New Years Honours List published today, for services to the Arts.

In Spring this year two Gloucestershire secondary schools took part in a new creative programme called ‘Create Your Future’ (CYF). It was designed by Abi Nicol, founder of Creative Communities, an arts organisation based in Cam & Dursley, supported by Create Gloucestershire and funded by NHS Gloucestershire’s Integrated Care Board.

Welcome to our new board members bringing a wealth of experience to the team. Anne has worked in broadcasting and journalism and led the University of Gloucestershire School of Creative Industries. Jacqueline is a coach and writer and will be our voice for nature, supporting innovative approaches designed to engage creative practitioners, community groups to address the intertwined ecological and climate crises that we are grappling with.

“We are all creative in our own ways and we all have such potential, but we don’t all have the same opportunities for this to be expressed or realised. It is great to be working with colleagues at Create Gloucestershire to positively address this challenge.” Matt Little, Chair

KICKSTART BLOG

Evie and Jimmy both got paid apprenticeships through the Kickstart Scheme. Jimmy was at Deepbed radio and Evie worked at SVA. Watch their video to find out what they got up to…

CG’s take away from the new national and local funding picture is that there are many brilliant arts and cultural organisations who secured funding and just as many that didn’t. There was simply not enough funding available to meet the incredible aspirations and potential of arts and cultural organisations in England.

When Cam and Dursley Creatives and GL11 Community Hub collaborated on the Platinum Jubilee Flag making project the community went silkscreen crazy, producing over 2,500 flags depicting images created by local children that celebrated our Queen.

KICKSTART BLOG

Jordan Odame is working at The Roses Theatre in Tewkesbury and joined the team through the Kickstart Scheme. Read on to find out more about his unusual journey into work in the cultural sector.

KICKSTART BLOG

My name is Manon Molyneux and I am working as a Junior Studio Engineer/Music Leader at The Music Works in Gloucester. I joined The Music Works on the kickstart scheme and have since become a full-time employee at the Gloucester Hub!

KICKSTART BLOG

Lia Morgan is working as Company Assistant at Wyldwood Arts and joined through the Kickstart Scheme. She has loved the opportunity to find out more about what’s going on in her community and has had the opportunity to develop lots of new skills from event organising to graphic design - all whilst juggling caring for a young daughter too!

KICKSTART BLOG

Ania Bond is working as the Arts Education Intern at Prema Arts Centre and joined through the Kickstart Scheme. Find out how she discovered the work opportunity and how she has got on in the role and what she has learned along the way (as well as how great the coffee is in the Vestry cafe ;-).

KICKSTART BLOG

Kate has been working with Can’t Sit Still as a Marketing and Production assistant for the last 6 months as an intern. She found her placement through the governments kickstart scheme. Create Glos role was to support employers in the arts, cultural and education sector to recruit young people.

In early May Dursley Craft Market hosted a group of talented young people who launched a range of products for the first time. They have been attending a weekly class at The Quarry Chapel, Cam where they were taught a range of craft skills and approaches to making products with the view to sell.

We are so proud to have been instrumental in recruiting 60 young people in 23 arts organisations and schools in Gloucestershire, from Wyldwood Arts in the Forest of Dean, Loco Glass in Cirencester, Deepbed Radio in Gloucester, Kingshill House in Dursley to Bright Marketing in Cheltenham.

20 local GCSE and A’Level students from Rednock and KLB schools in Cam & Dursley will be showcasing experimental pieces during Tyndale Arts Week. They created the work during a nine week programme called ‘Love Art? Create your Future! run by artist and educator Abi Nicol.

The new programme is scheduled for this autumn and we’re looking for young people ready to explore their next steps. Sessions begin on zoom on the 2nd November so get in touch if you would like to find out more!

Anne Careless from Tewkesbury Library recalls her Arts Award journey, and how the team delivered the Make-aways alongside Discover at Home.

Through the chaos of last year we saw an opportunity. What if we could deliver Arts Award digitally and engage families creatively while they were at home? Wouldn’t that be a great resource for now but also long term, giving us the ability to reach young people who might not otherwise have access? We all agreed it was.

This is how we came together to collectively explore and test out new ways to deliver it.

We are delighted to share the news that Create Gloucestershire has been selected to be a Kickstart Gateway organisation working with 13 Gloucestershire organisations for the new government Kickstart Scheme.

As a Gateway organisation Create Gloucestershire will support 13 organisations in the arts, cultural and education sector to recruit 31 young people in Gloucestershire giving them the chance to build their confidence and skills in the workplace, and to gain experience that will improve their chances of going on to find long-term, sustainable work.