Creative Carers

Our Coppice Court Rock On band have played their first public gig – and they were totally fantastic. They performed at the Seagull Theatre as part of a Christmas show organised by Graeme Syed and Lee Johnson and to an audience of more than 100 people. Of course, there were the pre-performance jitters, but when […]

It was party time at CYDS last night, with the young DJs rocking their mixes, and the young people mixing the rocktails and Looby and Che setting the scene with lights, sound systems – and a chocolate fountain. It was a lovely way to finish this term – and I’d like to say a huge […]

If you live in Babergh, you like to be creative and you’ve got a few hours to spare in the first couple of months of the New Year, why not come and volunteer to help out at our ‘Make, Do and Friends’ project? ‘Make, Do and Friends’ is our new programme for older people in […]

Lowestoft Folk really went for it yesterday – with a session at Broadlands in the morning, to introduce everyone to the Cabinet of Curiosity, and then a creative session at Hildesley Court in the afternoon, with much folding and decorating of our ‘Suffolk Puffs’. It was lovely to be back at Broadlands and see so […]

The lovely Colin Brinkley is one of our JumpstART students, who also took part in our Step Up project, which allowed him to collaborate alongside another artist to create and exhibit new work. This month, Colin’s illustrations were chosen to feature on Suffolk County Council’s Christmas Card, which will be sent by the Chair and […]

We’re pleased to invite you to three celebration events, marking the successful conclusion of our most recent JumpstART term, during which our students have enjoyed exploring the art of storytelling. Over 12 weeks, our students have learned about character development, story structure and illustration. They’ve had the chance to harness their imaginations and create stories […]

We’d like to say a huge thank you to the wonderful Rachel, John, Clair, Matt and Keith for taking on the Adnams Southwold 10k in aid of Suffolk Artlink. Last Sunday, Team Suffolk Artlink donned their red t-shirts and after some dedicated training, took on the challenge with gusto. We were delighted to catch them […]

It was lovely seeing everyone at Hildesley Court yesterday where, with a just a few weeks of Lowestoft Folk remaining, we were soon hard at work, creating images of Lowestoft Folk art – and each other. Using wax crayons, pastels and indelible ink, everyone set to, drawing the person opposite them, their names, and then […]

Just before half term, the pupils taking part in Lowestoft Folk visited Lowestoft Museum, to look at examples of folk art. Museum volunteers were on hand to take part in the activities, as artists Caitlin and Vicki set the children off to look at patterns and materials and find their favourite pieces – which they […]

Some fabulous fabric artwork was created last week at Westhorpe Village Hall when felt-artist Heidi McEvoy-Swift ran a workshop on traditional ‘from scratch’ felt-making. With the theme of ‘The Hedgerow’ 15 people created leaves, rose-hips, rainbows and even a squirrel before fixing the wooly images into the felt with soapy water and elbow grease!   […]

We had a fabulous time at our very first ‘Make, Do & Friends’ event, which saw the dazzling Spilt Milk Dance company bringing their ‘Little Love Cabaret’ to Needham Market Community Centre to entertain an enthusiastic crowd of over 100 people in their village hall. Here begins two years of creative togetherness as we tour […]

We’re happy to share news of a forthcoming exhibition taking place in November, near Bury St Edmunds, that will be raising money for Suffolk Artlink. The Heart of Suffolk Winter Exhibition shows the work of fourteen artists and craftspeople with studios in the heart of Suffolk, taking inspiration from our beautiful surroundings. Their work includes […]

This autumn we are celebrating 10 years of Clown Round, so it’s the perfect time to introduce you to Filomena, one of our amazing Clown Doctors. Fil has been with us from the very start of the project back in 2008 and as well as changing lives through her art, it’s great to hear that […]

  After a successful pilot year, we are thrilled to announce that our Around the Table project is growing! As well as continuing to offer monthly sessions in Lowestoft, we are now expanding the project to also offer family carers in Claydon, Ipswich a chance to explore food, creativity and culture with like-minded people in […]

Last week, the group selected scraps of fabric and made up some fabulous stories about where they might have come from and who wore them, including one about a nightdress mislaid during the War, a veil that was too long, a black dress worn by a sailor’s widow, and a cushion, chewed up by the […]

Lowestoft Folk stories come from all sorts of places; yesterday, they came from small squares of fabric. Inspired by the Suffolk Puff quilt on display in Lowestoft Museum, the group set about making their own patchwork of stories, both real and imagined. Lynn Whitehead led the group, as we explored a variety of different types […]

As well as the story bags and fortune tellers, we also got to sing a lot in the Lowestoft Folk session. First of all, Lynn taught the group a traditional folk song, all about going out fishing on a stormy night; you can listen to it here: – Lynn also made up a special Museum […]

Last week, the students from Pakefield Primary school came along to Hildesley Court Sheltered Housing Unit, to meet the residents taking part in Lowestoft Folk. The session started with a story, created and told by Lynn Whitehead, that involved lots of singing and working out of clues, as the principle characters explored Lowestoft Museum, in […]

What a lovely Rock On session last night at Coppice Court in Lowestoft – and how hard all the young people worked. From the moment we arrived to our last wave goodbye, the children were there, eager to make music together. With one song already nailed, and another shaping up nicely, the band will soon […]

This week we held our second preparatory session at Pakefield Primary School, getting the group of nine pupils ready to meet residents at Hildesley Court. Their first job was to paint their Lowestoft Folk Story Bags – using rollers, dabbers and copious amounts of brightly coloured acrylic paint – and they managed to do it […]

We’re off. Yesterday, we started the second iteration of the Lowestoft Folk project, this time at Pakefield Primary School. Thank you to everyone there who made us feel so welcome, particularly Mrs Starling, who will be working with us on the sessions, and to all the children, who were fabulous; Caitlin and I can’t wait to […]

We’re delighted to announce our very first ‘Make Do & Friends’ event! Our new creative programme for older people in rural areas is bringing Spilt Milk Dance to Needham Market Community Centre for a performance of their ‘Little Love Cabaret’ on Thursday 18th October.  Expect an afternoon of real life stories of love, and all […]

Our thanks to Katy McNamara and Lowestoft Rising for inviting us to take along a little bit of Lowestoft Folk and be part of the Ageing Well Fair, held at the Community Church in Pakefield on 11th September. Inspired by the beautiful porcelain china on display at Lowestoft Museum, our regular artist Caitlin Howells invited […]

This month we’re introducing you to one of our Step Up artists, Sophie Johnson. Throughout this year Sophie has been creating a series of thoughtful and creative illustrations in partnership with Kasia Posen. Their work was exhibited at the Whistler Gallery, Jerwood DanceHouse this summer. Name: Sophie Johnson Which Suffolk Artlink projects have you taken […]

As our flagship project, Clown Round, turns ten this month, we’re also celebrating the fantastic news that we’ve been awarded grants totalling £146,000 from Children in Need to continue bringing fun, laughter and distraction to young people and their families in hospitals and hospices across the East. For the past ten years Drs Fidget, Misschief, […]

As part of the national Heritage Open Day programme, Lowestoft Folk teamed up with Lowestoft Museum, and ran a creative workshop and story telling event – in which the Cabinet of Curiosity took centre stage. Inspired by the beautiful tap work created by shoemaker, Harry Peck, artist Caitlin Howells invited visitors to make their own […]

Following our Rock On summer holiday programme of DJ sessions at CYDS youth club in Leiston, two young people took to the stage and really rocked at the Saxmundham Family Fun Day on Bank Holiday Sunday. Despite the weather (it poured steadily, all afternoon) the young DJs got people rocking to their mixes and whooping […]

DJs Sophie Tott and Marco Spina have been working with participants – and youth workers – at CYDS in Leiston, helping them prepare for live DJ performances at the Saxmundham Family Fun Day on Sunday, 26th August on the Memorial Field in Saxmundham from 2pm onwards. And as some people, for example Cheleigh, one of […]

The Cabinet of Curiosity is really sparking the interest of visitors to Lowestoft Museum – not least because of the beautiful Victorian outfits worn by Patricia and Phoebe, both from the Making Waves Together project. Patricia and Phoebe have taken the Cabinet out into the Nicholas Everitt Park and used it to introduce visitors to […]

This month, we’re featuring one of our participant artists. Andreas lives in Stowmarket and has been a student on our JumpstART arts courses for over five years.  With the support of our professional artists, Andreas’ skills and confidence are growing, which is a joy to witness. What have you most enjoyed about Jumpstart? I enjoy […]

It’s that time of year again, and we are delighted to share with you our 2017/18 annual review. It’s been another busy year, full of people participating in creativity and growing as a result.  It’s always great to see a colourful account of all that we have achieved in the past year, and the impact […]

Lowestoft Museum has just received a brand new exhibit – the Cabinet of Curiosity – thanks to our Lowestoft Folk project, and the creativity and stories contributed by children from Oulton Broad Primary School and residents at Broadlands Residential Care Home. Lowestoft Folk, brings together different generations to explore the folk art heritage and associated […]

Booking is now open for the autumn term of our arts training course for people with learning disabilities. Taking place from September in Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich and Lowestoft, this term, JumpstART will be exploring storytelling. During the 15 week course, we are giving students an opportunity to create and tell a story – as […]

What a great day it was on Saturday, when Lowestoft Folk took part in the annual Lowestoft Festival. Lowestoft Museum brought banners and displays, whilst Lowestoft Folk ran craft activities and story telling sessions – and unveiled the Cabinet of Surprises (a working title) to the public for the first time. The Cabinet was introduced […]

Around the Table participants with their freshly-baked loaves, sporting photographs of themselves – how cool is that! The group met at the Kirkley Centre in Lowestoft where, under the guidance of professional food photographer, Jemma Watts, they learnt some great tips for taking portrait photos. This was followed by a bread making session with baker […]

Last night was the last Rock On music session at Coppice Court in Lowestoft before we all break for the summer, and whilst the drums beat and the guitars wailed, it was the quiet moments that really rocked us. Like the one pictured here, with a young participant showing another lad how to play a […]

This month we’ve been lucky enough to benefit from the mighty efforts of two wonderful fundraisers.  Our very own Miles Row walked an entire marathon in a day during this year’s Orwell Walk on 17 June, and some of the lovely staff at Allied Health Professionals Suffolk took on the Great East Swim last Saturday. […]

We are delighted to share news of not one, but two upcoming exhibitions of our participants work. JumpstART Exhibition – The Human Body Private View: Wednesday 11 July, 1.30pm – 3.30pm at La Tour Cycle Cafe, Unit 7, Waterfront, Ipswich, IP4 3FT During our recent Human Body module, students explored the fascinating world of the […]

This month we introduce you to the creative adventurer, Samantha Moss, a dancer and teacher who has spent 9 years living in Malawi. Sam regularly brings her passion for transforming people and communities through art to our work, as one of our valued JumpstART learning support tutors. Name: Samantha Moss Can you tell us a […]

I was lucky enough to go along to the opening of this fantastic exhibition – the work is extraordinarily powerful and if you get half a chance, make sure you don’t miss it – exhibiton runs until 29th June at the Coconut Loft in Waterloo Road, Lowestoft.

In celebration of National Carer’s Week, we’d like to introduce you to the lovely Jennie Pears.  We met Jennie, who cares for a family member, when she attended our Creative Company arts sessions in Stowmarket. What did you enjoy most about taking part in Creative Company? It gave me the chance to take part in a […]

We were delighted to visit Beech House Residential Home in Halesworth last week, where poet Dean Parkin and project officer Candida Wingate worked with residents to create this beautiful rainbow of memories poem, to mark National Memory Day. The poem was created on different coloured strips of card, each colour evoking a variety of responses, […]

We’re thrilled to share the fantastic news that we have been selected by the Chairman of Suffolk County Council as his chosen charity during his term of office until May 2019. Here begins a year of innovative and creative fundraising initiatives led by new Chairman, Michael Ladd, the proceeds of which will go directly towards […]

For the first time ever, we’ll be opening our doors to the public as we take part in Suffolk Open Studios this June. If you’d like to see some of our participant’s amazing creations or chat to us about the work we do bringing skills, confidence and joy to Suffolk communities through the arts, we […]

We were extremely sad to receive news of the recent passing of Paul Boast, a much loved Suffolk Artlink student. Paul Robert Boast was a talented artist and theatre performer. We were very lucky to have worked with him for 11 years, initially through our Open Doors programme in Ipswich and then most recently through […]

It was wonderful to see so many families and friends gathered at Broadlands Residential Care Home last week, when we celebrated all the beautiful work created by residents and pupils from Oulton Broad Primary School during the course of Lowestoft Folk. There was a special Lowestoft Folk Tale, much singing – and a great many […]

15 hours per week, fixed term – 2 years. £26,216.24 pro rata based on a full time week of 37.5 hours. We’re looking to appoint an Artist Facilitator to lead Make, Do and Friends, a new consortium between Suffolk Artlink, DanceEast and Rural Coffee Caravan. The new project will develop a high quality participatory arts […]

We are pleased to be able to share with you learning from Our Place, a project that saw us bringing artist residencies to six Partnership in Care residential care homes across Suffolk last year. The project aimed to put staff, residents and their families at the heart of designing and delivering a more creative and […]

We have enjoying welcoming two new team members to Suffolk Artlink – Jess Browne and Kasia Don-Daniel. They both join us as our trusty project officer Carrie Phoenix takes some time out on maternity leave. This month, we’re introducing you to Kasia, an artist we have worked with regularly in the past, who has now […]

This month we meet the talented Amy Nettleton who, when she isn’t making sculptures for the 2012 Paralympics, can be found teaching arts workshops to a wide and diverse audience including children and adults with additional needs. Amy is currently taking part in our Step Up project, which sees her collaborating with an artist with […]

Last night Sam’s Cafe rocked, as we launched the first session of our brand new music project for young people in Lowestoft. The project, Rock On, was devised in partnership with Access Community Trust (ACT), and provides drop-in music sessions for young people attending youth clubs run by ACT; Rock On will also provide sessions […]

We’re thrilled to have been awarded £71,000 of National Lottery funding, through Youth Music and supported by Arts Council England, to run a two-year music project for young people and adults living in disadvantaged areas in the Waveney and Suffolk Coastal districts. We know that making music can make a huge difference to people’s lives. […]

We’re really looking forward to our first Rock On music session at the Globe Youth Club, Sam’s Cafe in East Bevan Street, Lowestoft on TUESDAY 24TH APRIL, from 5pm – 7pm. Whether you’re a complete beginner or an experienced musician wishing to learn more – come along and meet our music tutors, Matt and Dan, […]

We are delighted to welcome two new team members to Suffolk Artlink this month – Jess Browne and Kasia Don-Daniel. They join us as our trusty project officer Carrie Phoenix takes some time out on maternity leave. This month, we’re introducing you to Jess. Fresh from the Tate, via Japan, we are looking forward to […]

This year, for the first time, we are being generously supported by Suffolk Open Studios, who will be holding a prize draw at their forthcoming open exhibition to support our work. In advance of the main Open Studios, a highlight of this year’s Suffolk Open Studios programme will be the “Inspirations” exhibition of paintings and […]

Today we are celebrating the fantastic news that, along with DanceEast and the Rural Coffee Caravan, we’ve been awarded £100,000 from Arts Council England towards an arts programme aimed at supporting older people living in rural areas across the county. This is pretty special, because we are one of just 16 partnerships in the UK […]

Our artist of the month for March is a Norwich-based freelance artist specialising in illustration, printmaking and arts education. Vicki Johnson is currently bringing a bit of creative joy to our carers taking part in Around the Table and care home residents and school children as part of Lowestoft Folk. Name: Vicki Johnson Can you […]

With just one week left to go, everyone is very busy making images of some of their favourite things from Lowestoft Museum – and this week it was particularly magical, as artist Vicki Johnson introduced the group to the mysteries of cyanotype printing.

Back in February, the children visited Lowestoft Museum, where they drew images of their favourite characters and took photographs of items in the collections. They shared these images with residents at Broadlands and, with the help of artists Caitlin Howells and Vicki Johnson, the group has now made a series of modern-day puppets, including fishermen, […]

As a Suffolk Artlink Supporter, you will help to provide more inclusive arts programmes that bring skills, support networks, confidence and joy to people in the East. Regular giving provides us with an essential source of reliable income. All monthly donations of £4, £10 or £25+ will allow us to plan ahead with confidence, and […]

February saw the start of our unique arts project – Giggle Visits – which aims to help bring distraction and joy to families in women’s refuges in Norfolk. Our ‘Giggle Workers’ headed off to one of Leeway’s larger women’s refuges in Norfolk, to use their special brand of artistry to bring fun, laughter and distraction […]

  It’s been great fun bringing children and care home residents together for the first time this month to explore Lowestoft’s folk heritage. The children have already found out so much from the adults, and so many snippets of family customs and traditions have been shared. This month, the first pairing of the project saw […]

February’s artist of the month is the lovely Lynn Whitehead. This multi-talented lady has a packed CV, with special skills including saxophonist, actor, storyteller and theatre education worker. Lynn is currently working with us on Lowestoft Folk, and has already proved herself to be a dab hand at getting a room full of care home […]

Thrilled to be working with DJ Sophie Tott aka Tallulah Goodtimes on the brand new Rock On music project for young people, kicking off at the Youth Booth in Memorial Road, Saxmundham on Monday, 19th February from 4:30 to 6:30pm. Meanwhile, Rock On in Lowestoft starts after Easter, where it will run regular, fortnightly sessions […]

But inside the Lowestoft Folk group is singing sunshine. We had a lovely session at Broadlands Care Home yesterday, during which the children quizzed the residents about old phrases and sayings, including why a stitch in time might save nine, and why gift horses should never have their mouths inspected. We’ll be taking a break […]

“The hand is letting go of the past, letting go of the dead things. It’s saying that now it’s time for these hands to hold new things.” That is how Esme explained the monoprint she produced this morning in a Creative Process session run by artist Kasia Posen. Creative Process is a group for adult […]

For this Lowestoft Folk session, our creative writer Lynn Whitehead got the children interviewing the adults about childhood traditions, memories – and the sorts of things they collected when they were young. Lynn also composed a song, all about the sorts of things they would like to find at the local museum – which everyone […]

The JumpstART students are looking forward to exhibiting their artwork at The Cut in Halesworth and would like to invite you to the private view taking place on 24th February. Date: Saturday 24th February, 12 noon – 2pm Venue: The Cut, 8 New Cut, Halesworth, IP19 8BY A thought provoking and stimulating exhibition of work […]

Thanks to £37,000 of new funding, our Forget-Me-Not-Visitors project will create a positive, friendly environment for even more older patients living with dementia at Ipswich Hospital. The new funds have been provided by The Rayne Foundation, Limbourne Trust and Suffolk Community Foundation’s Henry Smith County Grants. The money will enable us to continue to deliver […]

Oulton Broad Primary School children taking part in the Lowestoft Folk project visited residents at Broadlands Care Home on Tuesday afternoon where, as well as enjoying a gripping story all about Lowestoft Museum from professional story teller Liam Carroll, the children showed off their own, personalised story bags. The bags were created with artist Caitlin […]

In looking for images of old Lowestoft, I came across the Francis Frith website, full of fabulous photographs of places and people in Lowestoft. Here’s one of my favourites, a beautifully crafted mini-lifeboat, for giving children pony rides around the town.

On Wednesday we visited Broadlands Care Home, to introduce ourselves to the residents and tell them a little bit about Lowestoft Folk. We reckoned the ideal way to introduce ourselves would be over a nice cup of tea, and so we went armed with teapots and cosies, caddies and bags of leaf tea, teaspoons and […]

Our first artist of the month for 2018 is the wondrous wordsmith, Liam Carroll. Liam, a master storyteller, is joining us for the first time to work on our new project, Lowestoft Folk. His skill for weaving a tale or two is going to make this a really special experience for everyone involved. Name: Liam […]

We’re happy to announce the new dates for our free creative workshops for adult family carers, taking place in the coming months as part of our Around the Table project. Following an initial workshop in November last year, the new sessions will take place in Lowestoft on the 25th January, 23rd February and 23rd March. […]

What a lovely session yesterday at Oulton Broad Primary School – and how hard the children worked, creating their story bags and these lovely little Lowestoft Folk, which they will be giving to residents at Broadlands Care Home when we all meet up next week.

Booking is now open for the spring term of our arts training course for people with learning disabilities. Taking place from February in Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich and Lowestoft, this term, JumpstART will be exploring the fascinating world of the human body through art. During the 15 week course students will be drawing and painting, […]

We’re thrilled to announce eight new artist pairs who will be embarking on a creative journey together as part of our Step Up project. Step Up is a pilot which will explore a sustainable approach to providing inclusive professional development opportunities to visual artists in Suffolk, including artists with learning disabilities. Learning disabled artists have […]

This week we were delighted to receive news that Lucy Perry, a Suffolk-based artist, had just popped a cheque for over £700 in the post to us, to support our work. This generous donation follows two fundraising events devised and held by Lucy and a merry band of fellow artists from right across the county. […]

We’re really thrilled to announce that following the successful conclusion of our Creative Company project, a new art group aimed at adults who care for an adult family member in and around Stowmarket will meet for the first time at The Stowmarket Community Centre on Thursday 4th January. Run by family carers Ruth Coomber and […]

December’s artist of the month is the lovely Lucy Enskat, who wears a couple of Suffolk Artlink hats. As well as being a long-standing member of our valued team of Clown Doctors, she has also brought her inimitable creativity to residential care homes across the county as part of Our Place. Name: Lucy Enskat Can […]

During our recent Protest Arts module, the JumpstART students have been exploring ideas and issues that are significant to them through creative activities including print-making, dance, music and film. We would like to invite you to experience some of our students’ work at a series of three celebration events, which include a live protest art […]

  On Thursday 16th November we were lucky enough to have Chef Sam Hanison and artist Kasia Posen running our first Around the Table workshop, focusing on the preservation of food and how it can be used for far more than extending the longevity of produce. Sam and Kasia worked with adult carers to share […]

Date: Monday, 4th December Time: 2:00 – 4:30pm Venue: Wellbeing Studio at DanceEast, Ipswich, IP4 1DW Following the completion of our recent Our Place project, we are delighted to offer an opportunity for artists either working in, or wishing to work in, care settings, to come together and share good practice. Our Place was developed to […]

We’re happy to share news of two up-coming arts events taking place in Suffolk that will be raising funds to support our work. Visual artist, Lucy Perry and friends start their supportive streak next weekend, as they offer a chance to try your hand at woodcut Christmas card printing, using traditional Japanese Woodcut Printmaking Techniques. […]

This month we bring you community dance artist, Sarah, who used her creative magic to make sure our recent project in care homes across Suffolk was moving in more ways than one. Name: Sarah Franklin Can you tell us a little bit about your own practice? I am a Community Dance Artist. I dance, teach, […]

We’re thrilled to announce the start of a brand new project – Lowestoft Folk – bringing local school children and older people together through a series of artist-led programmes which celebrate Lowestoft’s folk heritage. Our artists will be working with primary schools, residential homes and in close partnership with Lowestoft Museum and the Maritime Museum, […]

We are delighted to announce the launch of our newest project, Around the Table, which is aimed at adult family carers. By exploring food, creativity and culture in regular workshops, we will give adult family carers an opportunity to gain respite from their caring role, develop new support systems and build their confidence. The first […]

October’s artist of the month is the multi-disciplinary marvel, Kaitlin, who has most recently been bringing creativity and laughter to residential care homes across Suffolk as part of our ‘Our Place’ project. Name: Kaitlin Ferguson Can you tell us a little bit about your own practice? My work as an artist is multi-disciplinary; I use […]

We were extremely sad to hear of the recent passing of Natasha Segust, a much loved student who participated on many of the JumpstART courses in Lowestoft. She was popular amongst her fellow students thanks to her caring nature and amazing sense of humour, and her artwork often reflected her fun loving personality. Natasha was […]

Lowestoft Folk – Call out for Artists We are inviting artists to register their interest in our new intergenerational folk arts project based in Lowestoft. The project, called Lowestoft Folk, will work with primary school children and residents from local care homes / sheltered housing schemes to explore artefacts and their stories from Lowestoft and […]

We’re looking for six visual artists to take part in Step Up, our new Suffolk-based inclusive professional development programme. If you are a visual artist with an interest in collaboration and learning new skills, Step Up offers you an exciting opportunity to develop your skills by working as part of a partnership. Each of the […]

As summer comes to a close, we are celebrating the successful conclusion of Avenues, a project that provided young adult family carers the chance to explore a variety of contemporary creative practices. Participants have enjoyed fun, friendly and creative experiences during social events and a summer school held at the University of Suffolk in Ipswich.  Each event […]

This month, we were lucky enough to be the recipients of over £600 of new funds thanks to dad and daughter duo, Tim and Polly.  The intrepid pair took on their very own ‘Dad and Daughter Drop’ to help raise funds for our work. In the early hours of September 9th Tim and Polly headed off […]

September’s artist of the month is the lovely Sophie Fox. Fresh from her successful artist residencies this summer as part of Our Place, we’re delighted to have this sensitive, creative and inspiring artist in the Suffolk Artlink family. Name: Sophie Fox Can you tell us a little bit about your own practice? I love working […]

We have received eagerly anticipated stocks of our Annual Review this week. We are incredibly proud of the changes we create in people’s lives through our work, and seeing it all in print is a great moment! It also gives us a valuable chance to thank our partners, funders and staff for their support. Many […]

It’s been a month for exciting new ventures, and this week we are celebrating the dawn of a brand new project with a brand new partner. Giggle Visits is a one-year pilot project that will bring the person-centred engagement used in hospitals and hospices by our fantastic Clown Round Clown Doctors to the new setting of […]

We are delighted to be launching a unique new professional development programme for visual artists. We are able to do this thanks to funding from the Arts Council, Suffolk Community Foundation and Leading Lives. Step Up is a pilot project which explores a sustainable approach to providing inclusive professional development opportunities to visual artists in […]

At the end of this month, we’ll be celebrating the completion of artist residencies in residential homes in Suffolk. Over the summer, as part of our innovative Our Place project, teams of artists have been working alongside care staff, exploring new ways of caring creatively for residents, their families and friends. Over the course of […]

Bryan Hall is one of our longest-standing music tutors and has worked with us on many of our music projects including Rock Up. He’s been a wonderful tutor, role-model and friend, and now he’s stepping down to concentrate on his work at Red Oak Primary School. We’d like to take this opportunity to say a […]

As our summer programme of arts workshops in Stowmarket draws to a close, we are looking forward to inviting adult family carers to our new autumn Creative Company season, starting in September. Over the summer, our participants have created some really beautiful work, from paintings to prints and poems. A huge congratulations go to Ruth […]

We’re coming to the end of our four-year Rock Up project in Lowestoft, and though it is a wrench to be ending our regular music sessions at Colville Youth Club, we’re leaving with such a lot to celebrate. We’re delighted to announce that five of our Rock Up music students have recently gained their Bronze […]

July’s artist of the month is experienced arts practitioner, Jacqueline Davies. As someone whose work is often described as ‘happy’, we are delighted to have her as part of our team, bringing a bit of her own particular magic to our JumpstART art students. Name: Jacqueline Davies Can you tell us a little bit about […]

We are looking forward to welcoming you to the very first Open Garden being held in support of Suffolk Artlink at Washingford Farm on Sunday 30 July. Set in the picturesque South Norfolk village of Bergh Apton, Washingford Farm gardens cover a vibrant 1.5 acres bounded by the River Chet. Thanks to the passion and […]

In celebration of National Carers Week, we’d like to introduce you to Ruth. She attends our Creative Company art workshops, aimed at adult family carers. For two hours each week, Ruth takes some time out from her caring responsibilities to join us for a bit of relaxing and creative fun in Stowmarket, led by one […]

We love exploring new ways of using art and creativity to bring change to people’s lives. Which is why we are thrilled to mark the start of Our Place, our new project with nursing and residential care providers, The Partnership in Care. Together, we are piloting a new approach which will bring the arts and […]

Booking is now open for the autumn term of our arts training course for people with learning disabilities. Taking place from September in Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich and Lowestoft, this term, JumpstART focuses on protest arts. During the 15-week course, students will be learning how to explore and express their views creatively using art forms […]

We are delighted to announce that Suffolk Community Foundation has awarded us crucial funds to help young musicians in Lowestoft develop their skills this summer. The funds were allocated to our Rock Up project through a Working Together Award of £2,000 and a Bluebell Grant of £2,030, two funding schemes run by Suffolk Community Foundation. […]

June’s artist of the month is a multi-sensory mastermind who has most recently been leading on our spring JumpstART course in theatre arts. We love her work, and our students do too! Name: Kirsty Thorpe Can you tell us a little bit about your own practice? I’m a multi-sensory theatre maker that creates work with […]

If you were to walk into the Constable Suite in Ipswich Hospital today, you might spot a pair of cheerful ladies, going by the names of Millie-Marigold and Kitty-Dandelion, clothed in colourful 1950s fashions and sporting large blue flower brooches. If you looked carefully, you may notice a ukulele slung over Kitty’s shoulders, or a […]

Our JumpstART end of module public performances are fast approaching, and they promise to be something really special. Led by artists Kirsty Thorpe, Lisa Marie Hoctor, Sally Zubowski and Molly Barrett, our students formed their own theatre companies and created works that are infused with creativity and imagination. During a series of art workshops our […]

This month we are looking forward to the start of our five-day Avenues summer school, which kicks off on 30th May. The free arts course will provide young adult family carers in Suffolk an opportunity to further explore a variety of art forms introduced earlier this year during a series of social events. On each […]

We’re taking to the water with Allied Health Professionals Suffolk for the 2017 Great East Swim to raise money for Suffolk Artlink. We’d be delighted if you would like to support our efforts. To donate, please visit our Just Giving campaign page. Together, a team of 14 of us are swimming over 22 miles in […]

May’s artist of the month is the lovely Kasia Posen. Kasia is a thoughtful, friendly and inspiring artist using her creativity for the power of good across a variety of our projects, including Creative Company and JumpstART. Name: Kasia Posen Can you tell us a little bit about your own practice? I am a freelance […]

As well as continuing our regular sessions in Stowmarket, this month, Creative Company has taken to the road.  In March and April we’ll be delivering free arts workshops to Suffolk Family Carer groups across the county. Our tour has taken in Bury, Felixstowe, Sudbury, Haverhill and Eye, with sessions planned for Lowestoft, Needham Market and […]

This month we’d like to introduce you to Lewis, film-maker extraordinaire, who can regularly be found helping our students to bring their thoughts, ideas and creative inspiration into flickering, shimmering, technicolour life through moving image. Name:  Lewis Wickwar Can you tell us a little bit about your own practice? I’m a filmmaker and freelance arts […]

As well as travelling the region gracing hospitals with their usual laughter-filled antics, this month, our Clown Doctors are heading to London to learn from none other than Patch Adams! Depicted by legendary funny man, Robin Williams, in the film of the same name, American physician Patch Adams is the grandfather of clown doctoring. The […]

In March, we proudly received a Highly Commended certificate at the 2017 High Sheriff Awards. The awards celebrate some of the county’s unsung heroes and charitable organisations for the work they do. We were one of four nominees in the ‘Organisation of the Year’ category. In March, we joined 400 guests at Snape Maltings to be […]

This month we launched our new JumpstART Theatre Arts courses in Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich and Lowestoft.  After a series of super successful Taster Days, we’ve seen our highest number of students so far, which is really fantastic! We are looking forward to sharing an inspiring and theatrical few months with our students. Lead artist […]

We are excited to invite young DJs, between the ages of 11 – 18, to take part in our first ever DJ open mic event. It will be taking place at Sam’s Café, in Lowestoft, on Saturday 1st April between 2 – 5pm. International DJ, producer and singer, Tallulah Goodtimes will be in attendance with […]

In celebration of International Women’s Day, we’re thrilled to introduce you to theatre making wonder-woman, and leader of our new JumpstART theatre arts course, Lisa-Marie Hoctor. Name: Lisa-Marie Hoctor Can you tell us a little bit about your own practice? I’m an actor, theatre-maker and freelance drama practitioner. I work a lot in the North […]

We’d like to extend our gratitude to Suffolk company, Stephen Walters and Sons, for their generous donation of £500. Thanks to our current Arts Council Catalyst funding, which matches all donations we receive from new supporters, their contribution will result in a fantastic £1,000 towards our work. This will help us bring even more arts […]

In recent weeks, our very own Alex Casey found herself at the House of Commons for the launch of a new report highlighting the value of cultural learning for young people. Rubbing shoulders with the likes of Darcey Bussell and Grayson Perry, Alex heard key findings from Imagine Nation, a report commissioned by the Cultural […]

This month we’re delighted to introduce you to the originator of our Clown Round project. Often seen conducting her rounds in hospital children’s wards, Chris loves nothing more than to bring a bit of creativity infused joy to young patients and their families in Suffolk, Norfolk and Essex. Name: Chris Draude (aka Dr Christobell Misschief) […]

Suffolk Artlink is delighted to be launching four new springtime Creative Company sessions for people who care for an adult family member in and around Stowmarket. Our Creative Company project is designed to offer adult family carers a chance to take part in a bit of relaxing and sociable fun. The sessions take place in […]

We are delighted to announce that Suffolk Artlink has been successful in securing new funding to support our Clown Round and Rock Up projects. A huge thank you to the Sobell Foundation and the St James’s Place Foundation for donating £5,000 and £3,000 respectively to Clown Round. This generous funding will help our talented clowns […]

We are lucky enough to work with some of the most talented artists found in the East. From poets to painters, printers to prop makers, they are all finely honed to bring a large splash of creativity and oodles of good cheer to our projects. Our participants love them, and we think they are fab, […]

We’re delighted to be calling for students for three exciting new Theatre Arts courses for adults with learning disabilities. The courses will start in Bury St Edmunds, Lowestoft and Ipswich next month. In the next of our successful JumpstART series, we’ll be offering a packed course of drama, puppet making, prop making, costume and performance, […]

Today we launch our latest project, Avenues. We will be offering young adult family carers the opportunity to explore new art forms, guided by a fantastic bunch of contemporary professional artists. We are excited to get started! Projects like this are a fantastic way to increase wellbeing and confidence and offer a valuable opportunity for […]

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! We’ve had a fantastic 2016 here at Suffolk Artlink, and hope you have too. Here’s the last of our news for this year, before the office closes next Wednesday for a festive break. We’ll be back raring to go on Wednesday 4th January! JumpstART! A couple of weeks […]

All we wanted for Christmas was a new Communications and Development Manager, so we are delighted to bring you season’s greetings from our newest recruit, Rachael Murray. What brings you to Suffolk Artlink? After enjoying three years as Marketing Manager for the Norfolk and Norwich Festival from 2003, I have since worked in events and […]

JumpstART! All the JumpstART! students have been getting ready for making their films and bringing everything together with help from Lewis Wickwar who has been filming and animating their work. This is in preparation for their screenings which are now less than a month away. The dates of the screenings are 13th December Bury St […]

Creative Company The regular sessions have started again in Hadleigh, alternating between the Sue Ryder Synergy Café at the Ansell Centre on a Thursday morning and the Together Tuesday group that meets at the Leisure Centre on Tuesday afternoons. We continue to work with artist Sara Harrington who has used a variety of new techniques […]

We are looking for a Communications and Development Manager – Suffolk Artlink £28,000 pro-rata for 15 hours per week A new role to lead on the development and delivery of Suffolk Artlink’s communications and fundraising strategies – with a particular focus on individuals and businesses. Suffolk Artlink has recently been awarded Catalyst Evolve funding from […]

Communications and Development Manager Vacancy £28,000 pro-rata for 15 hours per week A new role to lead on the development and delivery of Suffolk Artlink’s communications and fundraising strategies – with a particular focus on individuals and businesses. Suffolk Artlink has recently been awarded Catalyst Evolve funding from Arts Council England and this exciting new […]

Funding success for Suffolk Artlink We’re delighted to share that over the last month we have been awarded three grants for upcoming projects and organisational development. Youth Music have awarded just under £30,000 for a further year of regular Rock Up sessions for young people in Lowestoft to continue playing music at Colville House. Arts […]

Thank you to our 10for10 supporters! I would like to thank everyone who supported me to raise money for Artlink by doing the Orwell Walk. I managed to walk 19.6 miles, the first few hours were a bit wet and muddy, but it didn’t ruin a beautiful walk in good company. I am very pleased […]

We think our Clown Doctors are pretty amazing the way they spread happiness wherever they go. Recently, some of them have taken their skills slightly further afield. On the 24th June 2016 two of Suffolk Artlink’s Clown Doctors, Kim Moore(Dr Quiver Quaver) and Lucy Enskat (Dr Dizzy Daydream) went out to Calais to volunteer with […]

This week is Dementia Awareness Week, hosted by The Alzheimer’s Society to raise awareness of dementia and support for those worried about or living with the illness, as well as to let people know that they do not have to go through it alone. Last year, as part of Suffolk Artlink’s ‘Interact’ project for older […]

For voluntary arts week, our project officer Fran Speight had a chat with two of our wonderful volunteers – Mary-Lou Owen and Amanda Balls – who very generously spend their time helping students on our JumpstART! project in Lowestoft. JumpstART! is an arts training course for people with learning disabilities offering taster sessions, explore days […]

In June, some of the Suffolk Artlink staff are teaming up with Allied Health Professionals Suffolk to do the Great East Swim to raise money for our 10 for 10 campaign. Carrie Phoenix – one of our Artlink swimmers – is starting off our training diary blog series with a post about her first open […]

Today is World Voice Day. An annual, worldwide celebration of the voice and its importance in our lives. Part of this celebration is, of course, to promote the importance of having a physically healthy voice, but our voices also have an incredible influence over our wellbeing and our ability for creativity. That too is something […]

Suffolk Artlink and Allied Health Professionals Suffolk have joined forces for the 2016 Great East Swim! This year is Suffolk Artlink’s 10th Anniversary and to mark this milestone we are launching our 10 for 10 campaign, which aims to raise the first £10,000 towards 10 more years of making creative connections. As part of the […]

To continue our celebration of International Women’s Day, our Co-Director, Hayley Field, explores the work of some inspiring local female visual artists… It feels very appropriate on International Women’s Day to celebrate some of the amazing women artists who have lived and worked in Suffolk. As a visual artist who has explored some of them, I […]

Today is International Women’s Day! What better time is there for Suffolk Artlink to celebrate the amazing work of female artists within our projects and the wider arts community. An excellent example of just one of the amazing female artists we have the pleasure of working with is Sophie Tott – or to use her […]

Suffolk Artlink is very pleased to introduce you to the second of our new trustees, Jeni Draper. We are currently welcoming five new trustees to the board and have asked Jeni to share some information about her background and her previous experiences, along with some thoughts and expectations about her new role with us. Can […]

This month Suffolk Artlink is welcoming five new trustees to the board. Each of them bring a range of valuable experiences and skills, along with a meaningful understanding and enthusiasm for Suffolk Artlink’s work and values, so we’re very excited to have them join our team. As an introduction, we’ve asked them to share some […]

Saturday 5th December was International Volunteer Day and we would like to take the opportunity to say a huge thank you to all of the wonderful volunteers who dedicate so much of their time to supporting and assisting Suffolk Artlink’s projects. As a celebration of the day we thought we’d highlight how grateful we are […]

JumpstART! Lowestoft students are holding a private view of their artwork 1.30pm – 4pm on Thursday 10th December 2015. The public are welcome to attend the private view which will be at The Coconut Loft, 8 Waterloo Road, Lowestoft, NR33 O99. If you cannot make the 10th then the artwork will be on display up […]

JumpstART! Bury St Edmunds students are exhibiting their artwork on Tuesday 8th December. 12 students have created installations which will be exhibited in The Centre, St Johns Street, The Apex, Elsey’s Gallery and Moyses Hall. Tours around the installations will start at 1.30pm at The Centre, St Johns Street, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 1SN. If […]

Suffolk Artlink and The Cut are collaborating to offer a Communications Assistant internship. This exciting opportunity provides experience working with both a participatory arts organisation and a busy arts centre, which will be valuable to anyone wishing to develop a career in arts marketing. The internship is open to people aged 18 to 24, who […]

Suffolk Artlink is pleased to announce a call for proposals for a lead artist for Interchange – a project based at University Campus Suffolk (UCS) Ipswich, enabling a professional artist to work collaboratively with a group of young adult carers to develop new skills and confidence through the creation of new inspirational work. Deadline for […]

We are pleased to announce that there will be an exhibition of the JumpstART! Studio project student’s artwork at the Creative Minds conference at Dance East in October. The exhibition will be of artworks made during the JumpstART! Studio projects. The Creative Minds conference is on Wednesday 28th October. It is a day of performance, […]

Dr Hyacinth Haystack was overjoyed to have been invited to collect a cheque for £250 from NHS Professionals after Suffolk Artlink was selected as the worthy recipient by NHS staff at Colchester Hospital.  

Thanks to Caravan Studio and Micropress Printers Ltd we now have our annual review which takes a look at our work over the previous year. From April 2014 to March 2015 we managed 12 projects, worked with 2,218 people including family carers, people with learning disabilities, older people and young people at risk of exclusion […]

Following on from the confirmation of our the Big Lottery Fund we are looking for Learning Support Tutors for our JumpstART! project in Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich and Lowestoft. See here to find out more about our grant from the Big Lottery Fund. Vacancy: Learning Support Tutor Suffolk Artlink is looking to recruit Learning Support […]

Suffolk Artlink has been successful in securing £369,430 of funding from Big Lottery Reaching Communities for JumpstART! JumpstART! is a creative arts project for people with learning disabilities. It will be running over the next four years in Bury St Edmunds, Lowestoft and Ipswich, offering people the opportunity to develop their creative and life skills […]

Starting this week Culture Club is running sessions in Music and Memories, led by artists Dean Parkin and Maurice Horhut, who will encourage the groups to create poems using music as the starting point to evoke memories, emotions and creativity. To get a flavour of how to create poems from music and other influences you […]

The first of the Rock Up on line tutorials are now posted to the Rock Up playlist on our Youtube channel. Over the coming months we will be posting individual tutorials for the young people taking part in the Rock Up one-to-one sessions – these will be private and available only to the student involved. […]

Please join us on at 3 o’clock on Thursday, 29th January 2015 at Felixstowe library to celebrate Suffolk at Play and the work created by Felixstowe Academy Year 8 students, together with members of local church groups. Participants are most welcome to bring family and friends along to the celebration and we would appreciate it […]

The Barningham Art Group have made the fantastic decision to continue meeting as an independent group. After visiting them this week and having a little look through their sketch books we can see they are a very talented group and have an exciting future ahead. Here are a few examples of their artwork:

In January JumpstART! Bury St Edmunds and Lowestoft are running Studio Projects. These exciting new projects will offer people with learning disabilities the opportunity to develop their skills as artists in a supported studio space. There will be one project in Bury St Edmunds and one in Lowestoft and both run for 12 weeks starting […]

We are excited to announce that we have received an Award for the Forget-me-not Visitors Pilot Project from the Suffolk County Council Working Together Fund. Councillor Rebecca Hopfensperger presented us with a £10,000 Award to celebrate the partnership working with Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust, Sue Ryder and Care UK, and the outstanding outcomes which the […]

We are pleased to announce that our Suffolk at Play Exhibition Cube will be on display at Moyse’s Hall Museum, in the centre of Bury St Edmunds, from today. The cube features work created by Howard Middle School students and members of the local Over 60’s Club as part of an our intergeneration reminiscence project. […]

We’re back – music tutors Matt Shepherd and Bryan Hall are back at Colville House Youth Club as of today, 5th November, to deliver a two-year programme of regular music sessions designed to provide progression routes for young people making music. Whether young people just want to try something new, receive one-to-one tuition or take […]

Meet Fidget and Hamish! Dr Fidget is a clown doctor with loads of energy and a naughty dog, Hamish, who insists on coming to work with her at the hospital. Find out about their escapades in this fantastic new story and colouring book. All  proceeds from the book will be donated to the Clown Round […]

Suffolk Libraries are the latest organisation in Suffolk to have an internship opportunity through the Creative Employment Programme. They are looking for a Suffolk Book Festival Intern and applicants need to be aged 18 – 24 and registered unemployed with Job Centre Plus. EMPLOYER DETAILS Organisation Suffolk Libraries Business Type Libraries Address Ipswich County Library, Northgate […]

Great news – we’ve got Youth Music funding to develop Rock Up, a music inclusion project in Lowestoft, enabling us to deliver regular term time sessions at Colville House senior youth club for the next two years. As well as providing an informal, drop-in session for young people to come and try out different instruments […]

Our thanks to artists Kate Munro and Caitlin Howells for making the Activities Unlimited Fun Day such fun – adults and children alike thoroughly enjoyed making shadow puppets and the resulting plays were truly magical. You can see some of the images at https://vimeo.com/106268303

Congratulations!! Doctor Haystack, Doctor Misschief and Doctor Fidget are pleased to welcome five new trainee Clown Doctors, Frank Wurzinger, Jenny Holland, Kimberley Moore, Lesley Wilson and Lucy Enskat. At the beginning of this year the Clown Doctors invited local artists to join them for a training play day. Artists learnt about the Clown Round programme […]

Jumpstart Textiles, Pattern and Printing module starts in Bury St Edmunds today. We have 11 students on the course who will be working with artists Genista Dunham, Jacqueline Davies, and Jules Carpenter. We will be working on silk painting, block printing, t-shirt painting, sewing and creating garments of clothing. JumpastART Lowestoft will be starting the […]

Creative sessions start next week with the Gainsborough Library art group, we are running visual arts sessions for older people living independently within the community, with the support of a Creative Volunteer. Dance and Reminiscence sessions will also be taking place at the St Johns Lunch Club in Mildenhall.

The Forget-me-not pilot project visits are coming to an end at Ipswich Hospital, Asterbury Court and the Sue Ryder Stables Day Center and we are beginning to evaluate the impact the project has had on the participants. Part of our evaluation process has involved Dementia Care Mapping, this tool has been used observe any changes […]

September sees the start of Suffolk at Play at Felixstowe Academy, with year 7 and 8 students taking part with members of the local library Top Time Group – it will be good to get started again, and this time we are welcoming a new volunteer to our work, Jennifer Barrett. Jenni is a Skills […]

Over the last few months JumpstART students in Bury St Edmunds have been learning about dance. At the end of the module a film was made of their dance piece ‘Ruins’. Ruins is a site specific dance piece in the ruins and archways of Abbey Gardens. The piece was performed by students, was choreographed by […]

There are 5 apprenticeships open to 16 to 24 year olds who are unemployed and 5 paid internships open to 18 to 24 year olds who are registered unemployed with Job Centre Plus. Currently opportunities include stage management, web services and IT, front of house, marketing and communications among other things and are for people […]

We now have our annual report up and ready to read online. You can find it here. In 2013/14 we managed 14 projects, engaged with 2239 participants, delivered 487 workshop sessions, reached an audience of 42,588, employed 69 artists and supported 31 volunteers. This has truly been a year for making creative connections! Suffolk Artlink […]

Suffolk Artlink’s art group for carers and cared for at Smiths Row Gallery in Bury St Edmunds have had their last artist-led session this week and will now begin to meet independently with the support of our Creative Volunteer.

Whoopee – we have just confirmed that we will be working at Felixstowe Academy, along with members of the library Top Time group, to deliver the Suffolk at Play project, starting in September, 2014.

Well, the Phonic music inclusion project comes to a close tonight, with a BBQ at Colville House Youth Club and the regular musicians, Matt and Bryan, providing some cool beats-to-eat-burgers-by – it’s been a great experience working with the young people there and we hope to be back in the autumn with a brand new […]