News

Student Reflections: Adapting and Creating

Hello! It’s Tammie here. After having been a student on the last Start-Up project (setting up the community plant nursery in Mells) I’ve come back to assist with the facilitation of the current course.

The original brief for the team was to create a community bike workshop for Frome, and it was great to see such enthusiasm and interest from everyone who came to the SOUP event on the 11th of March.

Sadly but understandably we have now had to postpone that plan due to the impact of COVID-19.  Recognising the role edventure plays in supporting the community, we have been looking at how we might adapt to meet the present and evolving needs we will be facing over the coming months. We have transitioned to continue delivering a reshaped version of the Start-Up course online, with facilitated project focused and personal development sessions, skill sharing and mentoring.

The wonderful group of humans who make up the Start-Up student team have been working on how they might create initiatives that will support others and themselves at this time, (while navigating working remotely and relying on digital communication…I am sure many of you can relate to the challenges of this!).

One project that has come out of this is a Frome community Exhibition- ‘creation from isolation’, an opportunity for people to create something over this period of isolation that will be showcased at a community art exhibition once we are able to come together again. Stay tuned on our social media networks for more updates and how you can get involved.

This unprecedented situation we are in is causing a lot of hardship, and I recognise that the impacts look different for everyone. What I hope, and what I have seen, is that people coming together on projects like this is creating a network of support that will help ease the struggles we face, and as we navigate what is unfolding, create connection and give purpose.