The schools of Central Bedfordshire can look forward to their own, dedicated newsletter every month in which we will be taking the opportunity to shine a spotlight on Culture Challenge Providers working in Central Bedfordshire.
The Culture Challenge Directory is your go-to resource for locating quality, creative people across the region who are experienced and excited to work with children and young people. We provide information on over a hundred creative practitioners, from their colourful workshop suggestions to practical details such as costings and safeguarding, taking much of the stress out of sourcing new people to work with. We have also developed a useful map for you to browse all of the Cultural Providers in Central Bedfordshire and see who is working close by.
For November we are excited to introduce you to the talented people listed in the Directory, some of whom will be right on your doorstep!
Emily Wilde
Mosaic artist Emily Wilde hails from Ampthill. She has a passion for this versatile technique, believing ‘its creation encourages imaginative, mindful, and thoroughly rewarding participation for all ages. It is quite simply life-enhancing!’ Her lifelong passion for illustrated books and storytelling continually influences a desire to produce unique pieces of mosaic artwork which tell the stories of the thousands of tiny fragments of shape and colour that contribute to their making.
Step Out Arts
Leighton Buzzard based Step Out Arts produce two seasons of East Asian themed cultural education workshops to enrich schools and young people. To date, they have presented workshops to over 25,000 young people, returning to many schools year on year. Their workshops offer a combination of both indoor and outdoor activities, ideal for part of international cultural celebrations and carnivals. Activities include dance, drumming, ribbon dancing, Chinese New Year, lantern making and calligraphy.
Soundhoppers
Exploring sound is a particular realm of its own. Using a selection of culturally diverse instruments, Soundhoppers aim to provide a comfortable atmosphere for fun and discovery. Focusing on the healing nature of sound and vibration, a number of learning avenues can be covered, including world awareness, historic, natural and cultural. Soundhoppers have years of experience working with people with limited communications and have seen many magical moments of benefit with the medium of music.
OzzleBox
Based near Dunstable, OzzleBox is focused on engaging, educating and entertaining diverse groups of young people using human beatbox. Workshops engage, encourage and empower young people to come out of their comfort zones, learn new transferable interpersonal skills, inspire creative experiences whilst generating fun, unforgettable memories that will last a lifetime all in a safe environment. Oz is passionate about instilling seeds of self-worth, competence and confidence that over time will potentially blossom into positive attributes for the next generation of society’s role models.
Wasseldine
Wasseldine‘s Jane Lambourne has over over twenty years of experience working with schools in the field of environmental education and as a storyteller, offers performance and workshop opportunities for schools through Wassledine’s ‘Storytelling in the Woods’. She has been involved with Creative Partnership Projects, World Book Day and National Tree Week celebrations, enrichment weeks and school trips, habitat studies and story adventures, with schools in Bedfordshire and surrounding counties. Jane loves to promote the use of the outdoor classroom, offering storytelling workshops for primary schools, designed to develop children’s imaginative thinking, speaking and listening skills.
Grove Theatre
The Grove Theatre in Dunstable are dedicated to the engagement and participation of all people in the arts within the community and further afield. Theatre Education at Grove Theatre is for anyone who would like to take part; all ages and abilities. They frequently offer show related workshops, insights in various aspects of theatre and other one-off projects, as well as the regular term time classes for young people.
For details on more of our Cultural Providers based in Central Bedfordshire, check out our interactive map of the region.