Engagement Workshop – January 2025

Our Marketing, Communications, and Social Value teams visited two London services to host Engagement workshops. The people we support participated in fun, interactive activities centred around their hobbies and interests. As a group, we also came up with ideas for how to engage and celebrate our Creative Support community in marketing initiatives throughout the year.

Business Development Lead, Abbie, kicked off the first workshop by introducing Creative Support’s theme for 2025, “Doing What Matters to Me.” She explained that the day would be dedicated to exploring the activities, hobbies, interests that are meaningful to everyone as an individual. It was also a chance for people to share feedback and suggest projects they’d like to initiate or get involved in.

The first activity asked participants to reflect on the question: “What skill do you have that you could share with others?” There was a great amount of enthusiasm as everyone engaged in their hobbies, creating beautiful pieces of art and creative writing. Karen, for example, wrote a heartfelt poem about how much she was enjoying the day. When asked why she writes, she said, “Poetry is good for the soul.”

Afterwards, participants were invited to select one of our ‘I’ statements and either draw a picture or tell a story about what it meant to them. These will be entered into our Creative Mission Competition, a creative opportunity for people to engage with our Mission and Purpose Statement. Take a look here.

Dave chose the statement, “I enjoy relationships with others,” and shared how his role as a contemporary dancer and ambassador for Magpie Dance, the UK’s leading dance charity for people with learning disabilities, has helped him build meaningful relationships.

Grae from our Communications Team also conducted interviews with participants for the Creative Community podcast. He had conversations with several people, including Joel, who is passionate about advocating for marginalised communities. Joel shared his experience traveling the world as an EDI Training Manager, and said, “I grew up in the 70s, and this was a time when members of my community were attacked. Since then, I’ve always had this passion for justice.”

A major focus of the day was hearing about how people would like to collaborate with our Head Office teams on projects like Creative Life magazine and the Creative Community podcast. Karen expressed interest in seeing an animal facts page in Creative Life, while Betzalel wanted to participate in more Engagement days. Donna, who enjoys reading the magazine, said she loves “to see what other people are doing” and hopes the magazine continues to feature a diverse range of contributors.

It was a truly wonderful day spent with the incredible people in our London communities, and we’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part. We are so excited to host more Engagement Workshops and bring more of your collaborative ideas to life throughout the year.

If you would like more information about how to get involved in an Engagement Workshop, email us at marketing@creativesupport.co.uk.