On the outskirts of the bustling city of Chelmsford in the town of South Woodham Ferrers, there is a small community of creatives who are gathering together and finding their voice. We are the South Woodham Ferrers Creatives.

We came together as the profile of art in the town had diminished and become invisible. Some of our members recall moving to town in 1984 and the arts scene was alive with exhibitions in the library and village hall, light shows, carnival processions and even a puppet parade in Compass Gardens. However over time, these events seem to have almost vanished and a creative spark extinguished.  All that remained were a couple of small art classes and it became a challenge to connect with other like-minded people.

This year a few people came together after reaching out on Facebook. We felt that in a town of this size there should be quite a few creatives around and they deserved to have a platform.  The life of an artist can be quite isolating as we often work alone, so this was an opportunity to get together, to share our work and collaborate.  By doing this we would be able to create new opportunities for artists in the town and to grow the arts scene once again.

We now have a growing community of 62 members on our Facebook group and are looking forward to welcoming many more.  Our members include Ceramic artists, potters, embroiderers, photographers, cake makers, singers, book-makers, painters, illustrators, up-holsters, film-makers and much more. There is a monthly meet up to share ideas and discuss plans going forward. If anyone is interested in joining us we would love to see you on our group ‘South Woodham Ferrers Creatives’, where you will find all the details.

The group is working towards a big launch next year to re-establish the creative arts in our little town. With events to showcase our work in the town centre and an art trail with open studios planned, there is a lot to look forward to.

It is the first step to bringing creativity back to our communitiy.