Boosting Creative Wellbeing for Charities: A collaboration with Cheshire Connect
Over the years of running a small business I’ve stood back and admired others doing amazing work for charities either fundraising, donating or sharing their expertise.
I did bits here and there either donating raffle prizes or raising money for causes that other people have approached me for.
My proudest moment to date was sharing my story of overcoming burnout, fear, her personal journey of self-care and living a visionary life in the Amazon best-selling book ‘Seen Too’ – published on World Mental Health Day in October 2022 which raised money for Advance Brighter Futures a mental health charity based in Wrexham.
For me personally creative activities provide such a fundamental part of my wellbeing and mental health. I’m on a mission to provide individuals and organisations with these opportunities to experience creativity, which encourage connection, mindfulness, innovation and overall well being.
I’ve always wanted to do more but I hadn’t found the answer, but now I have. Read our latest story to find out more about it.
Our Vision & Mission
Our vision is to partner with small local charitable organisations across Cheshire to offer the charity owners and their teams who do not have the budget for ‘team building and employee wellbeing’. We want to support them and offer pro bono creative workshops to support their personal development and wellbeing.
Our mission is to positively affect our customers through the craft of upholstery. Offering them an experiential workshop where they have an opportunity to experience mindfulness, creativity and connection. Providing an occasion to take time out of their ‘normal environment’ to switch off from everyday life and take time for themselves. Learning new skills, connecting with others, and leaving with a sense of accomplishment and pride, and renewed energy.
The power of networking. You never know who you are going to meet and the conversations you have when networking. You only need to have one brilliant conversation to make it all worthwhile. I was an hour into a drive to Chester on my way to an event hosted by Laura Hothersall from We are Truth Ltd B-corp , running 45 minutes late as the weather was awful and I nearly turned around. I missed the first hour of the meeting.
It’s always rubbish arriving late when the room is quiet and the speakers are mid way through. I’m so glad I did as I would have never met the Keith Simpson CEO from Cheshire Connect. We hit it off instantly, it was amazing to hear about the fabulous work that they do. Cheshire Connect are a not for profit organisation who connect charities to specialist individuals or businesses that can offer their specialism for free across the whole of Cheshire. We arranged a follow up call to see how we could work with each other.
Bringing our Vision to Life
I invited Keith along to experience a workshop for himself. He could absolutely see the benefit of the session and how it could benefit the charities they work with. He shared his feedback “Emma is an outstanding provider of high quality workshops tailored to the development of your team’s mental health & individual needs. In a wonderful old atmospheric building she carefully guides everyone into creative construction. Highly recommended if you or your team wish to breathe, connect and engage in a team activity”
I am so excited to share that we are working in collaboration with Cheshire Connect and they are helping to bring this vision to life. The first workshop will run on 3rd July where 12 individuals will have a morning of creativity, lunch and an opportunity to network with like minded people.
In the first year of this initiative we will be offering places to 48 individuals, running four workshops per year.
The objective is for these charity owners / CEOs to take a day out of their hectic schedules, experience creativity, mindfulness and connection.
They will have an opportunity to meet like minded individuals, starting conversations which may lead to a support network or business buddy,
There will also be a business focus at the end of the session which will be facilitated by Cheshire Connect ‘Business Connectors’.
Cheshire Connect are always on the lookout for new businesses to work with. If you are a business that would like to donate skills or give financial support please check out how you can get involved
We will keep you updated with new developments on this exciting collaboration in the next few months.
If you are a business that would like to reward your team with a creative workshop please check out our team building activities, registered charities also receive a 20% discount on this service.
