Our Member NoFit State Circus was awarded the Warm Spaces Fund in February this year to help facilitate an accessible, creative hub at their new venue in Four Elms as a direct response to the ongoing cost-of-living and fuel crisis.
We caught up with the group recently to discuss how the fund was put to use and the positive impact it has had. We were pleased to hear that the fund administered by C3SC enabled NoFit State Circus to do the following:
- open the Winter Warm Creative Hub for 12 days, from 10am-2pm each day (once a week)
- employ 2 Social Navigators and 1 Community Artist
- provide 236 lunches to participants
- deliver 19 circus workshops, led by our Inclusive Circus Arts Teachers
- deliver 12 arts and crafts sessions, led by the Community Artist
The Hub has two main areas – a warm space and a quiet co-working space, for people to hang out, meet others, get creative, learn circus skills, work, or simply enjoy a cup of tea and food. Two Social Navigators welcomed and hosted people in the Hub, and not only created a safe, cosy and family-friendly place each day, but were also there to provide support, a listening ear and sign-posting to other support or statutory services if needed. The space is as open to being creative as it is to being social or simply a quiet space to just be.
NoFit State Circus reported the pilot project to be a success, providing a much needed antidote to the hardship and bleakness that winter can bring. “We all need more fun in our lives, and this has been so fun!”, one participant remarked. We look forward to hearing more on how the project evolves in the future.
To learn more about NoFit State Circus, visit https://www.nofitstate.org/
Need support with securing funding? Get in touch with us on enquiries@c3sc.org.uk. Our officers’ contact details can also be found here.
