Run craft workshops? Here’s an opportunity to make a difference.

If you’re a confident maker with experience in running community craft projects,  Great Northern Events,  organiser of the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, have got some great outreach opportunities in the Manchester, Stockport and Salford area coming up and we'd love to hear from you.

As well as our fabulous craft fairs, we passionately believe that craft and making things can build confidence, bring people together and connect with happiness, even for those who are at rock bottom. 

Opportunity at the Oasis Centre, Gorton

For the past 5 years we have partnered with The Oasis Centre, a charity in Gorton, East Manchester, who work with marginalised communities including people living with long-term physical and mental health problems, the homeless, asylum seekers and refuges. 

We have commissioned makers to deliver a range of different workshops for their clients from pottery, jewellery, willow weaving, print making, textiles and leather projects.  Last year two ceramicists spent a week with the Oasis community to make a giant mosaic for their building. We’ve just had the grand reveal and they loved it!

Oasis have invited us back to deliver another week-long ceramic residency from 26-30 June for participants to make pottery to keep for themselves.  Oasis are open to the public from Monday to Thursday 10am-2pm, so a week is four days long. 

Oasis is able to host a workshop at their Centre in Gorton and provide some basic craft equipment, but not those related specifically to your craft, such as clay, slips, glazes, kilns, and special clay tools. You would have to bring these, but we would reimburse their cost up to a pre-agreed limit.  Firing will need to be done off-site and fired pieces will need to be delivered back to Oasis.

The Centre staff are experienced at hosting and running workshops and offer lots of help and support. Their clients are all kinds of people, with many kinds of issues, both mental and physical, and they advise that you should pitch your workshop at a reading age of 8 years, as this means everyone can join in.

Bear in mind that for some, English is not their first language. We always aim to have translators on hand for large language groups, but often many languages are represented, so keep it simple! Your proposal should be suitable for complete beginners, with scope for those with more experience.

Workshops with Embassy with recently homeless women

This year we are expanding our outreach to work with recently housed homeless women via the Salford-based charity Embassy.  Embassy would like to take the women to a maker studio/workshop to learn new craft skills which they can then continue to work on back in their new shared home so the proposal will need to take this into account when considering materials and equipment.  The project should be delivered around Manchester or Salford, so please detail where the workshops could take place in your proposal. 

This could be a project run over a series of workshops to make something for the women to use or wear themselves or to use in, or decorate, their new home. Each workshop could be 2-5 hours long, and could include up to 4 workshops. The workshop will be for a maximum 6 women.  

To make your proposal accessible to as wide a range of people as possible, we advise you to pitch it for a reading age of 8 years old. All projects should be suitable for complete beginners with scope for those with more experience. 

The dates of the workshops will be mutually agreed with Embassy and the host maker. 

Workshops with Progress Schools in Manchester for excluded children 

Progress Schools teach teenagers taking a break from mainstream schooling.  They provide short-term or longer periods to reset before re-entering mainstream education. The children are aged 13-16 years old and predominantly, though not always, boys. The proposal should be suitable for complete beginners and be delivered around Manchester, Stockport or Salford (or within a half hour's drive).

They'd like us to work with their Gorton-based school, taking their pupils off-site to do their workshops which will take place during term time - either June, July or early September - between the hours of 10.30-14.15, and they would favour proposals of up to 4 workshops.

The workshop(s) will be for 6-10 pupils aged 13-16.  Workshops could be a full session eg.  from 10.30-14.15 (with a break for lunch)  - or shorter sessions - over consecutive days or weeks to be agreed between the school and the host maker.  If possible, they'd love to offer the student's something they can't easily do at school, but everything will be considered.

There is some flexibility in how the workshops could take place.  For example, we would consider doing the same workshop with two different groups at a different time. Workshops could have a different project each session or be a single project built over several sessions.  

Tell us what you'd like to offer

If you’re a maker with experience of community craft projects use the submission form below to tell us your ideas to engage these different groups. You can pick one project or all three, whatever works for you. For Embassy and Progress Schools, ideally you will have access to workshop space to accommodate 6-8 participants. 

However, this is not essential and this should not deter makers without a workshop space where you can teach from applying. Workshops can be one-off "full" days or a series of workshops over consecutive days or weeks to be arranged with the outreach partner.  We're willing to be flexible in how the workshops are delivered to suit all partners.

As you may be working with young people and/or vulnerable adults a DBS certificate is desirable but not essential as workshops will be delivered under the supervision of partner staff.

Fees and Expenses

Workshops at Oasis, Gorton

• £2500 for preparation and delivery of a 4 day Monday-Thursday 'deep-dive' workshop week (The Oasis Centre is closed on Fridays) from 10.00 - 14.00 each day, with access to set up and tidy up before and after.
• Up to £200 expenses for materials and firings.
• We like to present some of the participants' work at the GNCCF Manchester in October if possible. An additional fee of £250 would be paid for the artist (if available) to install and dismantle any installation. The dates of the Fair are 19-22 October, with set-up the week before, and derig on 22 October. 

Embassy, Salford

• £250 per session including preparation time, for up to 4 sessions. A session is up to 4 hours. We're willing to be flexible on how the project is delivered to suit all partners.  Give us an outline of how you'd like to structure the workshops and the preparation required and what you'd like to receive in fees.  We are happy to discuss details with you and prepared to adjust the fees and structure for the right proposal.
• Materials expenses to be agreed, up to £200

Progress Schools

• £250 per session including preparation time, for up to 4 sessions. A session is up to 4 hours. We're willing to be flexible on how the project is delivered to suit all partners. Give us an outline of how you'd like to structure the workshops and the preparation required and what you'd like to receive in fees. We are happy to discuss details with you and prepared to adjust the fees and structure for the right proposal. 
• Materials expenses to be agreed, up to £200

Travel Expenses

• The projects are based and need to be delivered around Manchester, Stockport and/or Salford. Reasonable travel expenses for economy travel up to £200 will be reimbursed on the production of receipts. If you come from further afield and would incur greater costs, then please speak to us, but we may not be able to meet this cost due to the limitations of our budget.