Creative Crich August and September Update
August 2025
August has seen a slowing down of activities following a busy year doing our creativity and sustainability project with Crich Neighbourhood Creative Agent Clare Limb.
In June and July we started a Banner Possibilities as part of our Thursday evening monthly Make, Do and Mend sessions. We soon realised that two sessions would not be enough to complete our banner and decided to hold a third session in August to complete the banner.
Lots of concentration, fast sewing and teamwork meant that most of the work on the banner got finished and that we could show it at the Fritchley Show on 23rd August in the Upcycled Creation (Group) category.
Through the process of making the banner we have talked about lots of hopes for the future including conserving our visiting swifts population as well as having clean waterways.
We teamed up with Sawmills Dare to Dream project group for the banner and are really pleased with the results!
We will be displaying the finished banner at our Share and Repair Café on Saturday 13th September along with a banner made by pupils from Crich Juniors and Crich Luncheon Club and both will be shared on the Dare to Dream Digital Loom in the coming weeks.
We have a lovely success to report – We also entered a ‘Dress of Pledges’ to the Best Upcycled Creation category in the Fritchley Show and won!
Credit for the win goes to Crich Youth Club, whose members worked with us on rust-dyeing sheeting to make the pieces on which the pledges were made.
Thanks also go to New Mills Fashion Week Activistas for giving us the idea to make these pledges at our recent Sustainable Fashion Show.
And a final thanks go to Cheryl Porter, Linda Philo and Clare Limb who brought the project together.
The Dress of Pledges will be at all Share and Repair Cafés as an ongoing project and visitors are invited to make their pledges against fast fashion on the remaining rust dyed pieces.
We have also been planning for our forthcoming programme of events and will be launching the community photography club in October in partnership with The Old Back Swan.
To mark the launch of the club we will be holding an exhibition of all the entries from the Crich Area Photography Competition. Themed on the Natural Wonders of Crich, the competition took place in Spring and attracted 40 entries. Plans for the club include monthly themes as well as a competition next year.
The monthly Make, Do and Mend skills share sessions will be back for the final three months of the year.
September’s skills share is all about learning how to do some simple repairs - beautifully – in the case of Kintsugi and practically in the case of other home repairs. Bring your broken china with you and be prepared to get hands on with tools.
October’s session is all about how to make your home more energy efficient with special guests Marches Energy who will be there to talk you through everything you can do to save energy and your precious pounds at the same time. There will be a discussion on home energy solutions led by local people who are leading the way with their own home energy projects.
The final session in November is about all things festive, when we will be making sustainable gifts and decorations whilst eating mince pies and drinking mulled wine.
Free to attend (donations always welcome), all equipment and resources provided, no booking required – See you there!
Clare Limb
