Sunday the 13th August was the opening event of Prestwich Makers Market. Shelley (Senior Support Co-ordinator) and Tom (Take Part Co-ordinator) supported the event on behalf of the Creative Living Centre with a stall to talk about mental health. We had mindful colouring, word-searches, rock painting and games to open up dialogues around mental health. Tom was there to talk about the CLC volunteering opportunities which included co-tutoring, social inclusion group support, decorating, café support and peer mentoring. Shelley spoke to visitors about the centre, what we do here and provided information about signing up, activities and support.
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Even with the typical Manchester weather, much fun was had on this rainy Sunday. Lots of stalls, sellers and activities, new people to meet and the opportunity to be in a shared community space.

Tom reflected that it was great to see so many people out despite to weather and wanting to find out more about what the Creative Living Centre does and why we do it. Wonderful that we had the opportunity to raise awareness for the charity and that it was children who came over for the painting activity which opened the door for the parents to find out more information ranging from volunteering opportunities, the timetable of activities we offer to members and even just to have a chat about mental health and what that meant to them. 

​Great work Prestwich, will see you at the next one!

Creating new signage for a charity is always a challenge 

After consulting with members, volunteers, staff and trustees we have new signage that feels up to date and in keeping with the Creative Living Centre message.

We are very lucky to have digital volunteers who are incredibly talented and we are thankful to Sam who has designed ours. After many months, many emails, redesigns and adjustments our signage is now on the building for all to see.

Great work everyone!

Art room clear up begins!

On Tuesday 18th July we welcomed external volunteer Helen to the centre, Helen works for a global recruitment company. She gets to give time back each year to a charity/cause of her choosing and we are happy to say she chose Creative Living Centre!

Diane one of our volunteers who supports the ‘Arts for all’ sessions on Mondays at 11-12.30 had noticed that a lot of our art materials were in a mess, there was a lot of empty paint pots, blunt pencils, disorganised drawers and unusable brushes! Therefore, we decided a clear up was needed and Helen came along just at the right time.

Helen and Diane spent the whole day removing old unusable materials, sorting & sharpening pencils, pens, brushes, paints, scissors, cleaning and tidying. You can see from the photos what a great job they have done in order to work out what materials we have and what we might need to support both our Arts for all group and our Art Therapy sessions facilitated by Anne-Marie on Mondays & Wednesdays.

We want to say a massive thank you to Helen for giving her time on the day and to our volunteer Diane for coming in for an extra day and for all her efforts week in, week out for the centre.
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There is still some more work to do to complete the job so if you have some time spare and would like to get involved, please get in touch with our Take part coordinator – Tom Wild by contacting [email protected]

The second outreach event was at Outreach in Radcliffe on Thursday 27th, this was specifically a volunteer recruitment event for local non-profit organisations. ‘Outreach’ is a charity who aim to provide person centred support to adults living in their own homes or within residential services.

There is a great space for all the organisations who were attending such as ‘Little Britain Anglers, Transport for sick children, Bury VCFA, North West Air Ambulance charity amongst others. Next door is the brilliant café run by volunteers providing vegetarian food and great coffee!

Tom spent the day chatting to potential volunteers, networking with the other organisations and even bumped into some Creative Living Centre members having food in the café at lunchtime!

We want to say a big thank you to Norman Shaw – Volunteer programme manager at Outreach, for arranging the day, setting up and being on hand to help out throughout the day. It was great to make another local connection and to hear about the amazing support that the charity provides.
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Our Take part coordinator Tom Wild has spent some time off site this month promoting the centres services for members, recruiting new volunteers, networking with local and national organisations and raising awareness of Creative Living Centre.

The first of these was the ‘Work & Wellbeing’ event hosted by Bury adult learning services on Thursday 20th July. This event was a great space to meet local partners and build on existing relationships and start some new ones! Tom met many individuals who were interested either in becoming a member or to explore becoming a volunteer. The applications have been flooding in and training will take place over the next few weeks.

We want to say a massive thank you to Sue Scott and the team at Bury adult learning services for organising the event and for all their support on the day! Lots of engaging conversations and useful information which will help support our staff, volunteers and most importantly the members of Creative Living Centre. Tom also popped in to see the Jubilee quilt which Creative Living Centre members contributed to last year in Bury art museum
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