A NEW social enterprise aimed at making creative activities more accessible to the local community has been launched by the team behind one of the North East’s few working potteries.
Alan and Valerie Dunnighan, who run Mitford Pottery from the North East BIC, have launched Wear Crafts CIC, taking on a second unit at the centre to create a dedicated space for craft workshops, local makers and community activities.
The idea for Wear Crafts grew from the couple’s plans to expand their creative offering beyond pottery, while creating more opportunities for people in the local community to get involved in crafts.
Alan, a self-taught potter who was inspired to take up pottery after watching The Great Pottery Throw Down, established Mitford Pottery as a way of sharing his passion for the craft.
As the pottery developed, Alan and Valerie began exploring how they could offer a wider range of creative activities. After speaking to other community interest companies (CICs), they decided that establishing Wear Crafts as a separate social enterprise would allow them to build on their experience while creating a more community-focused offering.
Alan said: “We’d both been thinking about expanding Mitford Pottery, but we wanted to do it in a different way. We wanted to offer something a little bit different, something that was more of a general craft offering and gave something back to the local community.
“We had the seeds of the idea and then had a meeting with the BIC, and it all went from there. They gave us plenty of advice from the get-go and showed us how we could keep Mitford Pottery going while starting Wear Crafts as two separate entities.”
Wear Crafts have recently been successful in securing funding from The National Lottery Community Fund which will help them engage with the community.
Initially, sessions will focus on pottery and glass painting, alongside creative sessions including its own take on the popular ‘sip and paint’ concept.
Participants will be able to book a place and choose whether they want to paint a ceramic or glass piece, with plans to introduce a wider programme of activities as the social enterprise develops.
Alan added: “We thought we’d offer something different, like sip and paint, and as it progresses, we’re going to try and expand that into general craft making, a little bit of fashion jewellery, felt making, wreath making and glass painting.
“It’s like when I started the pottery. It was all about giving people access to my passion. And that’s the same with Wear Crafts.”
A key part of the project will be its community focus, with sessions set aside for local groups and residents, alongside opportunities for people of all abilities to get involved.
Wear Crafts will also provide space for local makers who may have creative skills but lack the confidence, facilities or experience to run their own workshops.
The social enterprise also plans to offer shelving space for local craftspeople to sell their work, helping makers take their products beyond friends and family and into a wider marketplace.
Wear Crafts will initially open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10am to 2pm, with plans to increase its opening hours as more volunteers become involved.
Social Enterprise Adviser Kirsty McSween said: “It’s been fantastic to see Alan and Valerie develop the idea for Wear Crafts from those initial conversations into something that can make a real difference in the local community.
“Mitford Pottery has become a much-loved part of the city’s creative community since it opened its doors and we have every confidence Wear Crafts will prove just as big a hit. It will be a real asset for the area.”
Already having a presence at the BIC was one of the key motivators behind opening a second unit at the business centre, as was its central location and out of hours access.
He added: “The BIC have been fantastic with us ever since we moved here. The team really went above and beyond to help us when moving in and have always been there to give us advice and help us since.
“Sometimes you become a little bit unguided on what you’re trying to achieve, and it has been good to be able to bounce things off people who have helped lots of businesses in the past. They’ve seen the pitfalls and helped keep us on track with what we wanted to achieve.”
Wear Crafts is initially being developed as a two-year project, with Alan and Valerie hoping to expand the programme of workshops, increase opening hours, involve more community groups and provide opportunities for more local makers.
Alan said: “We’re hoping to keep it quite flexible for the local community to create what they want. We want to get people into crafts as much as possible, put more sessions on and have more crafters involved.
“I always wanted to involve the community in some way. That’s really what we’re trying to do – create a friendly space where people can come in, have a go, make something and hopefully discover a passion for crafts.”
The support from the BIC is provided through the Wear Together initiative, which forms part of Sunderland City Council’s Business Support Programme and is funded by the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority through its Integrated Settlement.
For more information on the North East BIC, visit: https://www.ne-bic.co.uk/