We all have a covid story to tell but mine has taken me on a very different life path. During the lockdowns I changed jobs to carry on working and I went into care work. As with all care and medical proffessions The vaccines became important to protect the service users. Unfortunatly I had a bad reaction which has left me disabled. Before hand I was a chef by Trade and loved outdoor pursuits, which sadly I can no longer do. In an aim to improve my mental health I started bookbinding and suddenly everything didnt seem quite so bad and I didnt feel quite as lost. Because of this I started campaigning for Crafting for mental health and ended up with a completely different life path. Finance was difficult so I was trying to learn from youtube videos and using cheaper materials but gradually my standard improved as did my mental health. Now I am trying to get the Creative Collective off the ground, we have a committee, it looks like we have a location, but we are still lacking in funds. We are registering the Creative Collective as a Charitable incorporated Organisation (Still in Progress). By registering this way we can get grand funding and public funding to help the cause, pay for the premises and equipment we need. 

The aim of the group will be to provide a location for local crafters and Artists to meet, Craft, exhibit their work, learn new skills. Most of us know how difficult the cost of Living crisis has made life and this is especially true when people are talking about Crafting supplies and equipment. Half of the premises will be used as a crafting area were people can come in socialise and do their Crafts. For those in Financial difficulty we would like to use funding obtained to provide materials, and use of equipment and attend crafting workshops. we would also be able to exhibit the work of local crafters in a shelved area of the premises. We will be working in Coalition with Especially 4 U craft fairs, so we can use funding to try and get those who without assistance wouldnt be able to attend craft fairs assistance and insurance cover making them acheivable. The initial startup costs we need to get properly up and running would be around £1000 but the more we can raise the more we can do and the more people we can try to help with a social space, a warm space and a positive, productive environment. Every penny we can raise to help make this project a reality.