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Innovation Fund Feedback from our friend Sarah Phelan (Programme Facilitator)

Sarah was awarded the Innovation Fund to deliver creative workshops for members of the Hammersmith and Fulham community to connect and to learn how to create their own Home Décor.

The sessions started of face to face, but due to the lockdown, they switched to online sessions. Sarah said that attendance at the digital classes was amazing, with classes being oversubscribed and feedback  being very positive!

Participants had to pick up their craft packs from the local library beforehand so they could follow along when the live online sessions were taking place. Sarah stated that on average 23 people per week. This included, on average, 2 -4 people per week that couldn’t make the actual class time but watched the replay and created their projects then.

Sarah said “I was really happy with the number of people that accessed my project. 8 of the people that did the Christmas Special class in December continued to do the classes that started in January, and of the January attendees, 15 carried on to do the March classes. This included all 8 of the people that did the Christmas and Jan classes, with 7 extras”.

Feedback from attendees was very positive which includes the following:

“I feel just more peaceful and it helped keeping my spirits alive during the sessions. These classes seem to be the perfect answer to coping in our current lockdown”.

“The instructor is excellent, explains steps clearly and is patient. I like having something pretty, useful, and of high quality at the end of the class. Most importantly, during these challenging times the 1.5 hour class was a welcome respite that I look forward to every week. I can feel my stress level decrease during the class – great for your mental well-being.”

“I’ve loved everything about these classes. The materials are good quality and, with Sarah’s expert tuition, we’ve produced some lovely things. I’ve felt quite a sense of achievement!”

“I love the attendees’ diversity and how Sarah manages to adapt to everyone’s pace and skills. She has been very inclusive and open to any questions. She also listens to people and always does her best to answer concerns or questions.”

“It was very nice. Good quality materials and to make unusual cards. Also the teacher is lovely, calm and repeats things if needed”.

A total of 72 participants attended and benefits from this project.

Sarah said “This project has been really successful; I am really pleased with the amount of people that we reached and the feedback that we gained. It was really clear from the feedback that people gained both skills and relaxation from the classes, with people also commenting on being proud of what they had created. I have had several people request advice as to where they can buy the supplies from to use their skills outside of the class, but also some that were unsure about whether they could come up with their own creations”.