Co-op Warm Spaces Funding Boost has provided £500 of match funding
Imagine Yourself to Wellness
Launceston, United Kingdom
Aim
Our project will bring people together and provide opportunities to explore their creativity, through writing sessions in a warm space
Who are we?
The Causley Trust is an arts and literary organisation based in Launceston, Cornwall, the hometown of Cornish poet Charles Causley. Through our work we provide opportunities for people within and outside of Launceston to engage with literature, arts, heritage and culture, whether that be through workshops, events or residencies. In doing so, we support a range of creatives in and around Cornwall, sharing their work with our network and membership. In raising the profile of Charles Causley and his work, nationally and internationally, we hope to engage young people with creative writing, using Causley's poetry as a springboard to inspire. In addition, we seek to raise the profile of Launceston and its rich heritage, giving back to the local community in events and initiatives that we run within the town.
Image (above) credit to Gavan Goulder
Community impact
Our local community is at the heart of our activity, both in providing opportunities for locals to explore their creativity and connect with writers, and also collaborating with local businesses and venues as part of our events and annual festival. As we've grown in the last year, expanding our events portfolio and entering the cultural tourism space, we have ensured that activity is conducted in Launceston that brings the community together. We also actively recruit volunteers within the local area, which helps us to better understand the needs of our community when planning our programming. Last year we ran several community events, organised workshops with local schools as part of a creative residency, and we are now leading warm space initiatives in town.
Image (above) credit to Gavan Goulder
Why are we crowdfunding?
We are crowdfunding because our community is severely feeling the impact of the current cost of living crisis. In the past month we have piloted weekly 'Imagine yourself to wellness' sessions at a local warm space. These have been very well received. From both an economic and wellbeing viewpoint, we feel that we need to provide these therapeutic writing workshops longer term. Our limited funding means we haven't (as of yet) been able to make the impact that we want to, which this fundraiser would allow. In starting a Crowdfunder, we hope to raise enough money to provide regular warm space workshops, in which people can use imagination to reduce stress and anxiety and improve their mood and health through writing exercises.
How we’ll spend the money raised
We will spend the money raised on organising and facilitating therapeutic workshops and creative writing sessions within Launceston town centre. The money raised will cover:
- Costs to hire a venue/ warm space
- Costs to heat a venue/ warm space
- Materials required for the workshops, such as paper, pens and any books required
- Expenses for Causley Trust staff and/ or local writers and artists to come to the sessions and deliver mentoring and/ or teaching
- Causley Trust staff time in organising this project
- Cost of printing materials to promote the project within town
This project successfully funded on 29th March 2023