Creative Crawley

We're hiring! 🔉Calling all Crawley community movers & shakers

If you work or volunteer with a community group, or are a community leader in Crawley, becoming a paid Community Connector with us could be an exciting opportunity for you, supporting us to reach more people in Crawley.

'This is probably the most fun I've ever had in a job... I have played a small part in the journey of making Crawley a more creative and interesting place' Mark, Community Connector

Find out more 🔗🌳in bio

📷 's Princess and the Peacock at Around the Lake Festival, Tilgate Park, July 2024. Image by .uk

Crawley Borough Council is exploring what a cultural quarter in the town centre could look and feel like, and we need your input! HemingwayDesign Always Possible and Creative Crawley are conducting a survey to gather your thoughts on culture in our town.

Take 10 minutes to share your views and help shape Crawley’s creative future: cultureincrawley.co.uk

Join us at the Town Hall on Thursday, 10 October, from 12 noon to 2pm or 5pm to 7pm to meet the team and give your feedback in person!

Thank you for helping us make Crawley a healthier, happier, and more inspiring place to live.

Introducing The Creative Village – a brand-new programme focused on nurturing and building Crawley's creative talent.

Whether you're just starting out in a creative career, or already established, this is your chance to showcase your work, grow your skills, connect with top creatives from across the UK and get insider tips on thriving as a creative!

Check out our season of workshops and events 🎨✨
https://creativecrawley.com/whats-on/?project=creative-village&type=all

the Creative Village is managed by Creative Crawley in partnership with AudioActive and Theatre Centre, and funded by Arts Council England and supported by Crawley Borough Council's Shared Prosperity Fund London Gatwick

Creative professionals participating in the programme include Producer Gathering Creative Pod Woodzy Wellbn Dreamy Place

Images: ©Rosie Powell / Producer Wellbeing © David Monteith-Hodge / ©www.iangreenland.uk

We're thrilled to announce that Creative Playground's application for an extension year grant from Arts Council England's Creative People and Places programme has been successful. This means that our grant now runs until March 2026.

The Creative People and Places programme provides support to projects in 'priority places' - areas where involvement with creativity and culture is significantly below the national average - and is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. It's about bringing together community, grassroots, voluntary and cultural organisations as partners to lead in choosing, creating, and taking part in creative activities that their local areas want and need.

Since our project in Crawley started in 2022, we’ve engaged with over 278,000 people. We've listened to what people want in their town and shaped the programme around that. This has led to residents developing five new public murals, 'Around The Lake' - a brand new festival celebrating the nature in Crawley, and much more.

We’d like to thank everyone who has been involved in and supported us so far, including the core consortium Manor Royal BID, The Hawth, Caridon Housing Trust, Crawley Community Action and Crawley lgbtqia and our independent chair Dave Watmore plus the creative professionals and local residents (too many to name here) and programme partners including Crawley Borough Council, Crawley Town Centre BID, Pop-Up Culture Crawley and Without Walls UK

We are looking forward to making many more creative things happen with Crawley residents.


Arts Council England

Images (1 & 5)
Crawley Oak by Eloise Gillow
Broadfield Conversations by Eloise Gillow
Photos by Rosie Powell

Images (2, 3 & 4)
Mughal Miniatures: The Peacock and The Princess by Sonia Sabri Company
Spoken Word & Poetry by Woodzy, Y.A. Poet and Iffat Rahman
Photos by Ian Greenland
The Book of Crawley by Beckie Darlington and Andy Field along with 4 local primary schools

Wednesday is the first meeting of our brand new Playmakers group, where Crawley residents from all kinds of backgrounds can offer their unique ideas and opinions about a new festival celebrating the power of art, fashion and sewing.
We'd love to hear your thoughts. Come along, and tell your friends and family!

Find out more: https://www.creativeplaygroundcrawley.com/whats-on/playmakers-meeting/

The theme of art, fashion and sewing was chosen by Crawley residents for a new festival to be part of the Creative Playground Crawley programme. We're looking for a group of Playmaker volunteers to help us bring it to life.

The first meeting is Wednesday 7 August, 6.15-8pm at Theatre Centre. Come along!

You're invited to join a new group of Playmaker volunteers and help us develop a new festival for Crawley, celebrating the power of art, fashion and sewing. You don’t need to know anything about art, fashion or sewing to be involved.

Come along to the first meeting and see what you think!
Wednesday 7 August, 6.15–8pm at Theatre Centre
(Town Barn Road, West Green, Crawley, RH11 7XG)

More info
https://www.creativeplaygroundcrawley.com/whats-on/playmakers-meeting/

Image © www.iangreenland.uk

Creative Crawley

If you're at the beginning of your career and have always wanted to work inside an arts organisation, our new General Assistant role could be for you!

Breakthrough Opportunities are paid trainee roles across the South East of the UK arranged through Artswork

We're also recruiting for a few other roles at the moment. Have a look at our jobs page for more info:
https://creativecrawley.com/get_involved/breakthrough-opportunity-general-assistant/

There's still time to get out onto the water at Tilgate Lake and experience Luke Jerram Studio's 'Crossings', on until Wednesday 17th July.

Tickets are FREE - book your place to avoid disappointment.
Best availability Wednesday afternoon (1pm, 3pm and 4pm)

https://www.creativeplaygroundcrawley.com/whats-on/atl-crossings-by-luke-jerram/

Images © Ian Greenland

Luke Jerram Studio

Funded by Arts Council England as part of the Creative Playground Crawley programme. With thanks to Crawley Borough Council

What a glorious place is. Come and celebrate it with us again tomorrow 1-5pm

Around The Lake Festival

Some more images of what happened today thanks to

The stunning Bonded by

Poetry in the woods from .a.poet .iffat and the brilliant and the Crawley mums who wrote one of the poems

Bees: The Colony

More tomorrow 1-5pm FREE

Around The Lake from

Funded by

A fabulous day sharing an array of artworks with people in - people tower on boats and we’re told stories, saw magical worlds in beehives, watched outstanding dance performances, heard poetry, sprayed art, saw miniatures buildings and a very special peacock.

We’ll do it all again tomorrow.

1-5pm. Tilgate Park, Crawley.

Free.

Funded by

Link in bio.

Look at this wonderful group of stewards who are mostly Crawley residents.

They are the team who will welcome the audiences this weekend and until 17 July to the Around the Lake festival

Becky, the Creative Crawley Community Producer has gathered a crack team of paid people and we cannot wait to welcome you.

Check out the link in our biog for more info.

Free Family Fun. Outdoor performances, creative workshops, installations and more. 1-5pm this Sat & Sun.

Join us.

It was wonderful to welcome Crawley’s new MP Peter Lamb to our preview of ’s Crossings today in the very first Around The Lake festival as part of the programme.

Great to welcome him on to the lake to listen to the specially commissioned story ‘The Odyssey of Parveen Khan’. A Crawley resident and legend. Made by BBC Producer Julian May.

Tomorrow is the first day of the free family friendly arts festival. 1pm to 5pm. Check out our website for more details. There’s lots happening until 17 July.



Funded by with thanks to

Images by .uk

How have you, people of Crawley, helped to shape this weekend's Around the Lake festival at Tilgate Park?

Find out in Creative Playground Crawley's blog post and discover all the ways you could get involved in future projects 👉https://www.creativeplaygroundcrawley.com/community.../

Image: Bandstand Lantern©Kerith Ogden
Arts Council England Creative Playground Crawley Crawley Borough Council


Luke Jerram Studio

Are you coming the Around The Lake Festival this weekend? 1-5pm Sat & Sun Free family friendly creativity on offer.

Posted • Read the team’s tips before this weekend:

1. Keen to be green!

🚶Walk
🚲 Ride your bike
🚘 Lift share

How are you travelling to Tilgate Park?
Keep your carbon footprint down & your heart rate up!

2. What’s the weather like?

Check the weather before you travel. We recommend bringing:

☀️ Sun cream
👒 Hat
👟 Comfy shoes
☔ Umbrella

3. Lunch Time

🥙 The Walled Garden Cafe
🐴 Smith & Western*
☕ Lakeside Cafe
🧺 Bring a blanket & a picnic for lunch on the green overlooking the lake.

*must book. See our website for more information on where to eat.

It’s was an absolute pleasure this week to welcome & to 5 different primary schools in Crawley as part of Everyone worked so hard in the heat. And the children and teachers ABSOLUTELY loved the shows.

Thank you to the excellent team on the road. It was a pleasure to welcome you to Crawley and thanks for helping us bring the shows here.

Posted • Week 2 OLIVE BRANCH
We had a blast this week performing OLIVE BRANCH this week reaching so many young people - it makes our heart go full.
It was a joy performing alongside .
Some of the comments of the children was mind blowing. And they running engagement is magical.
Thank you to our Creative Team

We want to thank our Team
Choreographers & dancers &
Producer
Music .angarano
Dramaturgy
Costume .tle.designs
Creative support & .kni_

We also want to thank our co- commissioner for the Olive Branch Original
And thank you to commissioner for Olive Branch

Thank you to all of our partner to get this work off the ground.
Lots of meaningful interactions again.

Image by ❤️❤️

Do you like listening to the sounds around you? Are you interested in recording them? Come to Langley Green in Crawley this Saturday to listen and record the trees, plants, and other sounds around you.

Completely free to attend.

Book via the creativeplaygroundcrawley.com website.

Posted • Book your FREE place this Saturday!

🌳 Join to create a sound map of Crawley composing ambient music derived from trees and other plants.

🕜 10am
⏳ 2.5hrs
📍 Cherry Lane, Langley Green

🔗 Click link in our bio to book

are funded by

TWO WEEKS TO APPLY for our Skills Exchange Programme 📣

Are you aged 16 years to 30 and based in West Sussex or Surrey?

Do you want to work in the creative industries more?

Are you up for a new challenge, want to meet new people and share new skills?

Get paid to learn about the Creative Industries from professionals in a practical, year long training opportunity. 🌟

HOW TO APPLY & more information, click the link in our bio. 🔗
Deadline is Thursday 13 June ‼️

The Creative Village is a new project in partnership with and funded by

The Skills Exchange Programme is supported by and

Posted • Introducing 💥 Saturday Sessions 💥

FREE events which aim to bring exciting, creative activity to Crawley, for people of ALL ages on a monthly basis. Each month will be something completely different from the one before and in a new location.

The first session is on Saturday 8th June at Cherry Lane, Langley Green.

🥁 Working Boys Club - Serving Sound
🫐 Rights For Weeds - Foraging with Izzy
🌲 Sound UK - Create Your Own Sound Map

🔗 Click the link in our bio for more information and to book your space.
working.boys.club

We can’t wait to share the .uk show Ancient Giants by with the students and teachers at Langley Green Primary School in Crawley tomorrow in partnership with as part of the programme

This weekend you can see all these fab FREE shows in Crawley town centre:

Posted • ✨ FREE events are coming to Crawley ✨

Ancient Giants
Gods and Demons come to life in a fusion of puppetry, dance and storytelling.
Sat 25 & Sun 26 May, 11am, 1.30pm & 3.30pm, Memorial Gardens Crawley

Island Storm
Enter a magical arcade action world and help a family rebuild their watery empire.
Sat 25 & Sun 26 May, 12.45pm & 3pm, Queensway Crawley

Birdie
Embark on a journey towards freedom and hope, inspire positive action and stand up for what’s right.
Sat 25 & Sun 26 May, 12pm & 2.30pm

Ancient Giants and Island Storm are presented in Partnership with @.uk and supported by

Ancient Giants, Island Storm and Birdie presented with

Put the dates in your diary 13 & 14 July 1-5pm. See you there?

Posted • 🥁 Announcing our first ever FESTIVAL, taking place this summer at the beautiful Tilgate Park! 🌳

Around The Lake Festival is a FREE 2 day outdoor festival for all the family, with creativity to discover at every turn. Experience a weekend of live performances, art installations and creative drop-in sessions. 🎨

📅 Saturday 13 July-Sunday 14 July 2024
⏰ 1-5pm each day (see website for individual show times)

We encourage visitors to explore and celebrate the green spaces of Tilgate Park through seeing, tasting and hearing the park in a whole new way, with a splash of creativity. 🌻

All activity at the festival is FREE.

🔗 For more information, click the link in our bio.
👀 Find out more about the programme in the coming weeks!

Around The Lake Festival is produced by Creative Playground, with support from . Funded by

Some of the shows are supported by Without Walls. Creative Playground is part of Without Walls, a network of organisations bringing innovative outdoor arts to towns and cities across England. Find out more .uk

Image credits (in order of appearance): Mughal Miniatures by Sonia Sabri Company © Irina Mackie; Crossings by Luke Jerram © Compton Verney; BONDED by Alleyne Dance © Jane Hobson; BEES! The Colony by Artizani © Artizani; Weight(less) by Mimbre © Rachel Hardwick

We are pleased to announce The Creative Village Skills Exchange Programme.

Are you aged 16 years to 30 and based in West Sussex or Surrey?

Do you want to work in the creative industries more?

Are you up for a new challenge, want to meet new people and share new skills?

Participants will get to work with creative professionals in a range of arts spaces from recording studios to galleries and develop new skills, contacts and ideas to help you get a job you love.

There are 10 paid places (£2000) on this brand new part-time practical training and skills exchange programme in Crawley from Sept 24 to June 25.

Deadline to apply is 13 June.

Find out more from our website in biog.

We are really pleased to have support from and others to make this happen.

It’s part of a bigger programme called The Creative Village which will launch in Sept 2024 and exists to test creative hubs, local showcases and networking for creative professionals in Crawley, West Sussex and Surrey too.

Please help us spread the word.

If you have questions you can join the free online Q&A sessions on Weds 15 May at 4pm or Tues 2 June at 1pm. More info on our website.