August 2020 saw Activate and b-side team up to deliver a free online course for people in Dorset aged 16-25. CREATE! Developing Your Idea supported 15 young people from across the county to explore what is involved in shaping creative ideas and learn how to make events a reality.
In this mini-series we invite the course participants to tell us about their experience. Here’s Kennedy’s story.
I applied to take part in CREATE! because I wanted to learn and understand what was needed to put on a fundraising event for charity. I also applied because I live in a town where there is nothing for people to do unless it’s eat food, get drunk or gamble. I wanted to be involved in something that was bigger than myself.
One of the things I learned which was also surprising, was that a lot of people my age wanted to raise money for charity and be involved with the arts. Regardless of the pressures put upon us because of COVID, it’s difficult to stay humble and it was refreshing to see how many people had a similar interest.
The one thing I learned on the CREATE! course and will take away with me is that I should always be thinking of my target audience because they are the people that will make the event possible.
My next steps are to find a team of people to help make my event come to life. I would like to find people who I could designate rolls and jobs to, so this can become a team effort. I would also like to learn more about the different grants and possible funding opportunities that would make this event a tourist attraction to my town.