The idea
Let’s Create offers Pay-What-You-Can creative play sessions for young people of all ages in Stroud. Using recycled materials like cardboard, fabric, and paint, our sessions provide a space to explore, gain confidence, and have fun through unstructured play. We adapt to indoor or outdoor spaces, aiming for the outdoors when possible, but ensuring a welcoming, creative environment wherever we are.
Parents and carers love Let’s Create for its relaxed, pressure-free vibe, especially valued by young people of all ages with neurodivergent or additional needs. With support, we plan to expand to new locations and employ dedicated support workers, ensuring every participant feels welcome. Join us in making Let’s Create a staple for creativity and joy across Stroud
What we'll deliver
- Hiring of Support Workers: Employ dedicated support workers to ensure inclusivity and engagement
- Enhanced Materials: Provide a wider variety of materials ensuring diverse options for free-form play.
- Additional Equipment: Purchase safe, age-appropriate tools like scissors, glue and specialist equipment, Makedo SAFE-SAW
- Portable Storage and Set-up: to transport materials making setup efficient for each session and pop up anywhere!
- Promotional Materials: Create posters, social media ads, and banners to raise awareness and engage with new families.
Why it's a great idea
Creativity and Wellbeing: Let’s Create empowers young people to build confidence and resilience through unstructured play, supporting emotional wellbeing and free self-expression.
Community and Inclusivity: Open to all ages and abilities, Let’s Create fosters belonging and connection across Stroud, bringing families together in an inclusive, welcoming environment.
Accessible Play: With limited art and play spaces, Let’s Create fills a gap, offering Pay-What-You-Can sessions and a pay-it-forward option to ensure all can join.
For Families: Parents value Let’s Create as a safe, affordable, and enriching space for their children to explore freely and at their own pace.
For Additional Needs: With no goals or pressure, neurodivergent young people and those with additional needs thrive, exploring and engaging in a sensory-friendly space that builds confidence.
Environmental Awareness: Using recycled materials, it promotes sustainability and environmental responsibility, teaching kids values.
Steps to get it done
- Recruit and onboard trained support staff to enhance inclusivity
- Obtain age-appropriate, safe tools like scissors, glue, and specialist items to ensure a safe, creative environment.
- Secure and organise portable storage for easy transport and efficient setup, allowing to pop up in various locations.
- Design and distribute posters, social media ads, and banners to build awareness and attract new families to sessions.
- Host the first 2025 Let’s Create outreach session with new materials marking the beginning of regular expanded sessions.
Let’s Create addresses a vital need in Stroud: safe, accessible spaces where young people can connect, play and grow without barriers. In an age where structured activities dominate, we offer the freedom of unstructured exploration that builds resilience, fosters independence and supports mental wellbeing. Our sessions are especially impactful for neurodivergent children and those with additional needs, who find Let’s Create a rare space free from pressure or judgement, where they can thrive. With community backing, we can do more than expand; it can become a model for inclusive, accessible play across the district. By adding support workers and guest creatives, we’ll create job opportunities and deepen community ties, as well as empower families from all backgrounds to experience art in a meaningful way. By supporting Let’s Create, backers contribute to a sustainable program that enriches lives, uplifts families and strengthens Stroud’s commitment to inclusivity and community-building
