Children of a Revolution is the product of 2 Black Country-creatives: Eve Biggs and Saffron Hill, who have a clear vision of how the arts aid wellbeing.
Drum and Brass has provided 6 months mentoring to Eve and Saffron with the following results.
The Journey:
Saffron Hill sends a poem into Drum and Brass’ “No Bars_Poetry” competition
Drum and Brass gets in touch to say that the poem has been accepted
Saffron and colleague Evie Biggs are then motivated to enter artwork into a local art exhibition at Mander Centre, where they develop their plan to use arts to benefit marginalised communities
They deliver art workshops at a local gallery
They hold the first “Great Depression” open mic night at the Purity club in Wolverhampton, attended by Julie Hoggarth of Drum and Brass
Julie offers Drum and Brass mentoring (part of the No Bars project) to develop the Children of a Revolution project
The Drum and Brass mentoring programme
- D+B supports Eve and Saffron to register the company as a Community Interest Company at Companies House on 1st February 2022
- D+B helps create a business plan and timetable which fits around Eve and Saffron’s day jobs
- D+B helps COAR write policies and signposts them to training and business support.
- D+B helps plan, budget, timetable workshops and helps with networking the project with other arts organisations working with lived-experience artists on social impact projects
Challenges
Both Eve and Saffron work part time and we needed to explore what the right level of time commitment to the project was. “Keep It Simple Stupid” really applies when you are juggling different roles. Eve and Saffron have put in hours of unpaid planning work at the same time as managing their jobs, house moves, family lives and all the rest of everyday life – which does not stop just because you are starting a business.
Finance was the next challenge. They applied for local funding but were turned down. We considered Arts Council Funding but the extensive and demanding form really needs several days of discussion and we just did not have the time or budget to do this.
We eventually managed to work out a mentoring programme using some of the income from our No Bars Aviva Crowdfunding campaign. This gave the two just enough leeway to successfully plan new funding streams, register and promote their business, including building the website. http://childrenofarevolution.cpd.works//
No Bars_Poetry meets Children of a Revolution
The mentoring for Eve and Saffron was part of D+B’s No Bars_Poetry programme to help lived-experience creatives to develop their own careers. With Children of a Revolution we got more than we expected. The project needed handing on but we had really struggled to find a project manager who understood people who have experienced growing up in care and the justice system. With Eve and Saffron, as we offered business training and development support we all realised that the poetry project fit perfectly into their overall portfolio.
Just a few months in, they are working with Soft Touch Arts’ Cre8tive TV project to deliver their innovative and engaging workshops to prisoners in cells.
They are collecting poems live, at their Great Depression open mic nights.
The next Great Depression night is 19th June at the Purity Club in Wolverhampton. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-great-depression-pt2-tickets-296665453357?aff=erelexpmlt
They are using the instagram page to promote the call-out for poems and to promote their other work.
Check out the feedback from their latest workshop here: https://www.instagram.com/nobars_poetry
Children of a Revolution are in demand to deliver their creative arts workshops in community venues in Wolverhampton. They are starting their own podcast: “Unmuted” and curating an art exhibition of work by marginalised communities at the Mander Centre in Wolverhampton.
We are delighted that they will be present at the Doing Music Differently event at Curve Theatre on 26th March. Find out more from them about their unique workshops and engaging approach to arts with marginalised communities.
Saffron Hill and Evie Biggs have made incredible use of the mentoring offered by Drum and Brass. We had envisaged mentees creating some more poetry or perhaps recording a piece of work. The vision of Children of a Revolution has shown what is possible when grassroots organisations work together.
However, it’s just one example of Drum and Brass mentoring.
Other organisations we have worked with include AAA Foundation and Woodgate Music Programme. Working together we are stronger and have more to offer our communities.
Drum and Brass can help with:
Policies
Business set-up
Bookkeeping
Funding
Project and business planning
For more information, contact julie@drumandbrass.co.uk