Lemonpop Workshops : Emerge Day @Wellingborough and Corby Libraries "Grow Your Own"

Ghostdavandal Originals presents Lemonpop Workshops : Customise Ur Life @Wellingborough and Corby Libraries "Grow Your Own"

EMerge Day

14th February 2015
#EMergeday #14February2015 

#create #write #lead #grow#creativearts #creativewriting

Ghostdavandal Originals took part in an exciting Arts and Culture Event, "EMerge Day" which took place on the the 14th of February (Valentines Day) and which was celebrated throughout the East Midlands. 

"The aim of EMerge is to introduce 5-25 year olds in the East Midlands to a wide and diverse range of arts and culture.  The Mighty Creatives have teamed up with local arts and cultural organisations to deliver accessible, vibrant, collaborative and celebratory experiences that bring people together in their communities and across the region.

This wonderful idea was imagined and designed by our Goal 5 Young Leaders Group. a group of young people from across the East Midlands who have been developing work around Arts Council's strategic Goal 5 (Every child and young person has the opportunity to experience the richness of the arts). This event day has been developed and led by these young people in co-production with The Mighty Creatives.

'We want to build a future where inspired children and young people have the opportunity to express themselves through arts and culture in a creative, fun and collaborative environment'"

http://www.themightycreatives.com/news/EMergeDay-2015---Arts-and-Cultural/149

We worked closely with Northamptonshire Libraries to create the Branding that was used throughout the "Grow Your Own" event and continue to be used in future events. The Grow Your Own logo was meant to represent the engagement of creative activities such as the Arts and Creative Writing that young people can get involved in, either by leading or simply participate in. The main aim of the project was to inspire young people from across Northamptonshire to lead arts and cultural activities for children and their own peer groups within libraries throughout 2015. The workshops where held at Wellingborough and Corby libraries and included:

Create Your Own...Creative Arts workshop with Ghostdavandal Originals

Lead Your Own...Volunteering workshop with Northamptonshire Libraries

Write Your Own...Creative Writing workshop led by James McInerney 

Make Your Own...Volunteering taster: Children's Craft Activity

We started off in Wellingborough Library in the morning session then moved on to Corby Library for an afternoon session. We spent a few hours at each library engaging with young people in customisation workshops aimed at gaining transferrable skills through Creative, Technical and Professional practise as part of a process that achieves positive results. Most young people we engaged with had never participated in such activities so were naturally excited about trying something different, experimenting and showing a general interest in the many outcomes that can be achieve by practising the processes, also by gaining confidence in practice and exploring new challenges through Planning, Preparation and Production.

Overall the day was a success as we engaged with numerous young people from Wellingborough and Corby who enjoyed creating colourful pieces of work, meeting new people, gaining transferrable skills that can be applied to achieve positive results and most importantly enjoyed their experience. When asked if this is something the young people would do in their own time most of them agreed that this something they can take away and practice on a daily basis or on a rainy day......and that made my day!

We would like to thank The Mighty Creatives and Northamptonshire libraries for being part of such an inspiring event and hope that it continues to grow and inspire young people of Northamptonshire to be creative in the arts and in writing, also to lead their own events and session. Special thanks go to Sarah Brown (Northamptonshire Libraries), Sophie Baczynski (The Mighty Creatives), James McInerney ( the poet...), the staff at Wellingborough library and Corby Library, The Core and all the participants that came along to the workshops and session(...we had great fun!! Let's do it again!!!)

MH

Lemonpop Workshops: Customize Ur Life @ The C Word Launch

The C Word Launch
Northampton Library, Northants

23rd January 2015

We began 2015 with a really exciting project (..which is a personal one too) in which we worked closely with Macmillan Cancer Support and the Northampton County Council to launch a service that supports all young people affected by Cancer, whether it is through their own diagnosis or that of a close family member or friend. The aim of the launch was to raise awareness of the service and to develop the right balance of support needed, encourage any young people affected by cancer to join the project focus group and get views on where the gaps are and how to work with them and other organisations to provide the right balance of services.  

The launch for The C Word was held in the Central Library and was attended by young and older people affected by cancer and also in attendance were representatives from Northants County Council and Macmillan Cancer Support, volunteers plus local organisations, groups and the general public who showed their support for the launch and the causes that created the service. There was a Message Wall erected in the main foyer and was aimed at encouraging everyone to write positive messages or share their experiences and stories in a positive and enlightening way.  

We were there to assist in raising awareness of the service, also to encourage attendees to participate in writing positive messages on the wall and engage young people in creative workshops. We delivered mini workshops throughout the day to young people (...and adults that were brave enough to get involved...) who attended the launch with their parents or with organisations and groups. The activities included canvas painting and Tshirt customisation and where aimed at engaging young people in creative activities 

The message wall was the highlight of the day, with loads of positive messages that anyone can find encouraging and inspiring to read and more importantly came from personal experiences. One of the messages that we thought was a powerful quote read "Cancer does not change you, it changes the circumstances around you"... that definitely gave me something to think about and hope most of the emotive messages on the wall did the same to anyone who read them. By the end of the day, the message wall was so full of positive quotes and messages by people who wanted to express how they feel about cancer or what they have been through in a positive way. 

This innovative service will be available to young people across the county who are struggling to deal with their own experiences of cancer, and need some extra help. Macmillan Cancer a support and Northants County Council are currently developing a programme of very different services to support teenagers and young people in whichever way they need it. Whether it is more information from the unique experience of Macmillan Cancer Support about a relation’s or friend’s condition, help with school, university or work, advice on finances or business start up, emotional support or just an opportunity to escape for an hour, we are looking to create an effective range of events delivered through the unique community reach of the 36 libraries throughout the county.

We enjoyed ourselves on the day as it was a successful launch, we look forward to the development of this very necessary service and are proud to be involved and associated with it! We feel proud to be supporting a cause we passionately believe in and continue to show support for such local services. We would like to thank all those that attended and showed support to The C Word service launch. Special thanks to the representatives from Northants County Council (@mycountcouncil) and Macmillan Cancer Support, to all the volunteers, the Library staff (@Libraries_Plus) and everyone involved in making it a success! Very special thanks to Abbie Weaver (@thecword) for organising the event, Don't Forget The Kids (@dont4getthekids), Alfes Cause (@AlfesCauseKids), to Sarah Brown (@seb826), Victor Agboola ( @Pres_VicotorA the University of Northampton Students Union President)  and to Aman Mahoon Ghostdavandal Originals Team!

MH