Escape2Make believe that all young people deserve access to high quality creative learning experiences and spaces where they are truly safe and welcome. Having delivered over 500 free creative workshops for over 1,000 11-18-year-olds in Lancaster and Morecambe, E2M are on the verge of establishing their first dedicated, creative youth space. To celebrate this, and to support young people to take ownership of the space, we will run 28 free workshops, supporting young people to learn new creative skills, make friends, and create things that will bring the new space to life. Over February half term, 125 young people can take part in hands-on, offline activities led by professional artists, which may include upcycling furniture, making ceramic plant pots, sustainable textile design and mural painting. Each workshop will lead to items that will become part of the new E2M Space, and activities that will be showcased at a youth-led E2M Fair event, open to the community, on Sat 22/2/2025.

What we'll deliver:

• 5 free 5-session creative programmes for 75 11-18-year-olds
• 3 free one-day creative workshops for 50 11-18-year-olds
• Support 125 young people to learn new creative skills and make things that will help bring the E2M Space to life
• A free, youth-led E2M Fair event with free activities for over 1,000 members of the community
• Paid commissions and training for 8 local freelance artists
• Additional paid opportunities for a freelance marketing lead and event producer and 8 workshop assistants
• 20+ volunteer opportunities for members of the local community, including training

Why it's a great idea:

98% of young people told us they would use an E2M Space weekly, as they have so few safe spaces to go: 2/3 of youth centres have closed since 2010. Our work benefits young people: 1) Countering a growing mental health crisis: 100% of participants enjoyed taking part in our last project, and 98% felt “amazing, great or good” afterwards; 2) Developing essential creative skills (e.g. communication, teamwork, problem solving) crucial for future employability; 3) Making friends from diverse backgrounds outside of school, preventing loneliness: 95% made one or more friends in our last project; 4) Offering tools to help make a positive difference in their community. Our work benefits the community: 1) 40 paid and volunteer opportunities; 2) 1,000+ people can try out creative activities at the E2M Fair; 3) Our dedicated youth space will be used by other community groups and counters issues such as anti-social behaviour, mental health and loneliness.

Steps to get it done:

• E2M's Youth Board will decide on the programme for the E2M Fair workshops
• Artists leading workshops will be confirmed and contracted, confirming workshop programme
• Artists, workshop assistants and volunteers will receive training in safeguarding, First Aid and GDPR
• Artists will plan workshops and gather materials
• Young people from targeted groups will have early access to register for workshops
• Workshop sign up open to all 11-18-year-olds in Lancaster and Morecambe
• Workshops are promoted through fliers, posters, school assemblies, other youth groups, targeted emails, social media
• Workshops take place throughout February half term
• E2M Fair event, free and open to everyone in the community, takes place in Lancaster

Ensuring our workshops are attended by young people from a diverse range of backgrounds is crucial to E2M. We want to ensure those who might experience barriers to attending activity receive the most support to do so: we offer early-access registration for targeted groups; reimburse travel costs for those needing to use public transport to attend workshops; and provide E2M T-shirts when a young person needs a support worker or parent to attend with them to help them “blend in”. This fosters an environment where young people from different backgrounds, who may not otherwise have met, form friendships and collaborate on projects benefiting their community.