Bursary Winner Sarah Cressall Launches Her Franchise ' The Creation Station' at the National Franchise Exhbition

The perfect franchise for mums is booked to run the first ever Children's Activity Centre at the National Franchise Exhibition at the NEC

To encourage women along to this year’s National Franchise Exhibition at the NEC, leading exhibition organiser Venture Marketing is making the event a family friendly experience. They have booked The Creation Station to run a Children’s Activity Centre on the second day of the exhibition – Saturday, 2nd October.

Parents wanting to find out more about the flexible business opportunities offered by franchising are invited to bring their children along and enjoy a family day out. The Children’s Activity Centre is completely free and can be accessed from The Creation Station stand B170. Parents can enjoy quality and stress free time with their children and experience the joy of creating a mysterious mask, a willow wand or a squishy squashy picture. Places are limited and are on a first come first served basis.

The Creation Station founder and Managing Director Sarah Cressall said: “This is a fantastic way to attract more mums to the National Franchise Exhibition so they can find out more about a wide range of business opportunities. As an Associate Member of the British Franchise Association The Creation Station is committed to supporting women in franchising. We are delighted that Venture Marketing have asked us to run the first ever entertainment event at the exhibition.

“We engage families brilliantly and have extensive experience as entertainment providers at a wide variety of events across the UK. In the last few months we have provided activities at the Devon County Show which attracted more than 100,000 visitors over three days, the Deloittes Family Day and the Toyota Environmental Day.

“We are looking forwarding to welcoming visitors to our stand during both days of the exhibition and to the Children’s Activity Centre on Saturday. We will help make sure that families have an enjoyable and relaxed experience.”


The Creation Station is the UK’s leading arts and crafts-based play experience for children and their parents. Children love The Creation Station because it inspires their imaginations and allows them to have fun with a wide range of art and craft materials. Parents and carers love it because they can enjoy sharing creative experiences with their little ones but without the mess and stress in their own homes. Women, especially mothers, looking for a flexible and rewarding career find. The Creation Station delivers the work life balance they have been searching for.
For further information visit www.thecreationstation.co.uk and www.franchiseinfo.co.uk

All sunny for Arts Fresco

Market Harborough's annual street arts bash went off well this weekend with thousands attending on a sunny (but windy) Sunday. We were there giving out Made in Leicestershire directories and jute bags and supporting Ema Kelly www.duckinabucket.com and Claire Fairall www.clairefairall.co.uk

Atkins Building ready for business in Hinckley

Went to see the Atkins Building today which is a new creative workspace in Hinckley due to open this autumn. We will have some 'Made in Leicestershire' display cases there. All the studio spaces are now booked and the building - a refurbished textile factory - looks great. All power to the Borough Council who have taken on the project. There's also a gallery and cafe space where we will have some 'Made in Leicestershire' display cabinets. Plus all the creative courses for North Warks and Hinckley College will be run from a new building next door.

More on the social enterprise running the studio spaces and gallery at www.creativehinckley.co.uk

Creative Leicestershire Development Bursary Winners Announced

For what could the last and final time, Creative Leicestershire are pleased to announce the 28 creative businesses from Leicester(shire) & Rutland that have been awarded over £47,000 in total to help develop their businesses.

And the winners are:

Art Tracks - Mobile Creative Arts & Heritage Initiative from Braunstone http://www.art-tracks.co.uk/

2B Productions - Community Performing Arts Organisation from Wanlip

Serenah Cole - Performance Poet from Glenfield http://www.serenah.co.uk/

Liz Clark - Dance Artist from Loughborough

5or6 - Graphic Design Consultancy in Loughborough http://www.5or6.co.uk/

Alice Little - Music Tutor from Thurmaston

Workshops with Liam - Creative Workshop Leader from Billesdon

Creative Hinckley - Arts and Creative Industries Collective from Hinckley http://www.creativehinckley.co.uk/

Coldfire Design - Graphic Design Agency from Leicester http://www.coldfiredesign.co.uk/

Duck in a Bucket Designs - Jewellery Designer working with glass from Leicester http://www.duckinabucket.com/

Kate Unwin - Set & Costume Designer in Leicester http://www.kateunwin.co.uk/

Amy Brammall - Commercial Photographer in Leicester http://www.amybrammall.com/

Centre for Indian Classical Dance - Asian Dance Organisation based in Leicester http://www.cicd.org.uk/

Dan Morley - Graphic Artist from Leicester http://www.danmorley.co.uk/

Created and Felted Handmade Bags - Bag Designer working in felt from Leicester http://www.clairefairall.co.uk/

Leicester Community Music Project - Community Music Project in Leicester

Steve & Jo Photography - Photography Business in Leicester http://www.steveandjophoto.co.uk/

Mellow Baku - Vocalist from Leicester www.myspace.com/mellowbaku

Mio Destino: Di Murini - Mastectomy Lingerie Designer in Leicester http://www.dimurini.com/

David Towers - Furniture Designer from Leicester http://www.davidtowers.biz/

Aakash Odedra Dance - Asian Dance Artist from Leicester http://www.aakashodedra.com/

Speakeasy Theatre Company - Theatre Education Company in Leicester http://www.speakeasytheatre.co.uk/

Diane Fawcett-Walker - Freelance Illustrator from Melton
http://www.dianefawcettillustration.com/

Open Design & Communication - Graphic Design Company from Melton

Bee Happy Designs - Wedding Stationary Designer from Hugglescote http://www.beehappydesigns.co.uk/

Kelly McRobie - Vintage inspired Textile Designer from Leicester http://www.kellymariemcrobie.com/

Jan Burridge - Studio Ceramicist from Oakham http://www.janburridge.co.uk/

Jenny Creasey - Porcelain Artist in Oakham http://www.jennycreasey.co.uk/

We have also awarded bursaries to two businesses from De Montfort Univeristy as part of the university's Business Venture Competition:

19grams - Graphic Design Company

Exposure Live - Live Performance Recording & Broadcasting

Image by Point Blank Photography - http://www.pointblankphotography.co.uk/

Big Demand for Development Bursaries

We have received a total of 72 applications for the bursary scheme this year (almost a record), so it will be another difficult year to make decisions. Demand doesn't seem to diminish. The panel meet week beginning 5 July to make decisions. This is the last year of a 3 year agreement with emda to fund these bursaries so it's likely to be last of this exact scheme. We'll be on the look out for other ways of funding business development.

Former Bursary Winner, Gerard McChrystal Receives Major ACE Award

Gerard McChrystal has been successful in obtaining a Grants for The Arts grant for his tour and CPD project, Stand Up.

Ten years in development Stand-Up is Gerard’s newest project. It is a combination of solo saxophone works and pieces for saxophone and electronics. Every work is accessible and inclusive. The sublime beauty of atmospheric works such as Karen Tanaka’s Night Bird
and Andy Scott’s My Mountain Top contrast with the freshness of Tony Davis’ dance inspired Iguacu, Come Down and Dance. Gerard will also perform duos by Telemann and Ian Wilson using effects that have to be heard to be believed.

Virtuosic works by Paganini and Barry Cockroft include amazing techniques like circular
breathing and slap-tongue. Multi-layered works, performed live, using a loop station complete this unique cutting edge project.

Saxophonist Gerard McChrystal has performed in over 30 countries including USA, Korea, India, Japan, South Africa, Azerbaijan, New Zealand, Indonesia as well as much of Europe/UK. He has worked with Philip Glass, The Soweto String Quartet, vocal group Anuna, Rambert Dance Co. and many orchestras including The Philharmonia and the Orchestra of San Francisco Ballet.

For more information visit:
www.saxsaxsax.com
E-mail: info@saxsaxsax.com
Mobile: 07950 929313

Performing Arts Leaders

13 people began the Performing Arts Leicester leadership programme on Wednesday. Here are most of them after their initial workshop, along with Alistair Reid - Strategic Director at Leicester City Council. They will be doing a whole range of workshops, coaching and visits to equip them for leading performing arts organisations and beyond until March 2011. They are: Louise Katerega (Foot in Hand Dance company) Nilima Devi (Centre for Indian Dance), Ruth Bates (Dance Development Officer for Leicestershire and Rutland), Samir Bhamra (Phizzical Theatre Company), Ellen Bianchini ( Spark Children’s Arts Festival). The 8 emerging leaders are Anna Peavitt (Big Difference Company), Chris Flux (Curve), Debbie Longley (Melton Theatre), Maya Biswas (Big Difference Company), Robbie Kerr (De Montfort Hall), Samantha Crispin (Curve), Trina Halder (Curve) and Vijay Mistry (2Funky Arts).