In 2023 – 2024, Blossoming Communities delivered 186 Wellbeing Workshops across 21 venues, in 6 villages and towns in Northumberland. 365 individuals aged 16 – 94 yrs old attended these workshops.
The workshops provide an opportunity to meet new people, try something new, practice self-care, learn mindfulness, get involved in new opportunities and have fun. Some of the activities tried this year have been weaving, watercolour pet painting, making dragonflies out of balloon whisks, needle felting and up cycling.

Blossoming Communities have been invited to work in existing groups including a Fibromyalgia a memory café support group, a community house and a memory café. They were also commissioned to deliver workshops in care homes, for people with dementia and to support a community organisation to create a mixed media banner celebrating the organisations 30th Birthday.

 

In this year, Blossoming Communities completed a Community Fund Project, creating a piece of community art which celebrated Northumberland. They also received funding for a Bee Happy project, which is raising suicide awareness through the Wellbeing Workshops.
Blossoming Communities were lucky enough to get some funding to enable a Ukrainian Artist to deliver some workshops on vyshyvankas and Ukrainian culture. These workshops were fun and informative.

To help raise funds for Blossoming Communities, they have started holding regular Craft fairs, jumble sales, tombola’s and in December they ran another Elf School. These events were very well attended with about 200 families attending Elf School and a Further 1000 people attending markets and fairs.

 

Blossoming Communities is developing an excellent reputation for professionalism, providing support outside group sessions and being responsible and responsive. The receive donations from individuals and groups of arts and crafts resources, which if the cant use, they ensure get passed on to some that can use them.

Support outside group sessions has included, collecting resources for individuals in need, doing a sponsored walk in memory of a participant, helping people without support to move home, and enabling participants to support each other. Blossoming Communities also hold social events such as a Christmas Party and a Kings Coronation Party. These bring all groups together and networks and friendships develop from these.

 

Another project recently started id a Heritage Lottery project. Looking at the Make Do and Mend activities that took place in the mining communities of South East Northumberland in the second half of the 20th century. 12 volunteers participated in oral history interview training and continue with the interview phase of the project.

 

In total Blossoming Communities have about 30 volunteers who undertake a variety of tasks including helping run workshops, baking cakes for coffee mornings, being Santa, putting up gazebo’s and fundraising. Providing additional training and support for the volunteers is something that has been identified as a priority for next year.