How this creative family is using their recycled art to inspire the community to reuse & recycle
Do you have cabin fever? Or a serious case of wanderlust? Here at Workaway we now have an amazing 50,000+ opportunities and volunteer exchange projects available in many different parts of the world. With such a huge amount of projects to choose from, we thought we’d dive a little deeper and help you explore all of your options! Each month we invite ourselves in for a closer look at what’s behind the scenes by interviewing just one of our many hosts. Think of it as a teaser and an excuse for you to join in on the fun. Going by the name of ‘Workaway Host of the Month’ we’ll help you discover more of what it’s like to live in their shoes as we encourage you to take the plunge and find out more for yourself!
This month, we had the pleasure of getting to know a lovely family living in the UK . Drawing on their experiences as journalists and travellers, they told us how they’re creating a new project that moves beyond recycling toward something even better. Get out some scissors and glue and tap into your inner child for this special interview!
We’ve read on your host profile that creativity, imagination, and reusing materials are big themes for your project. Can you share how they are all connected for you? How did you get the inspiration for the design studio?
Having moved to this rural heaven, we realised that reuse is a far more powerful message to get across to children (and adults) than mere recycling. Our inspiration for creative ‘junk’ came from our desire to get children away from their screens and devices, in order to release their creativity, in a space that is inspiring, stress-free and practical. And that’s how our community design project was born.
Ask an older child to do the same, or even an adult, and unless they consider themselves to be a member of the ‘arty’ set, the chances are that they’ll hesitate, become self-conscious and mumble something about ‘not being any good at art.’ We strongly believe that creativity isn’t just reserved for the few. It is a thrill awaiting all of us. It’s simply a matter of creating an exciting, fun space in which people feel comfortable and un-judged.
We have had no trouble reintegrating, even though we are living in the countryside. In fact, we think it’s incredibly important to introduce people from other countries to our local community. Culturally, children from the rural families around us might never have travelled, or might never even have the opportunity to travel. By finding energetic, kind, fun-loving, enthusiastic people from abroad to come and contribute to our project, we believe that we will present local children (and adults) with a valuable cultural exchange.
The countryside rolls away in hills and fields, and if I’m honest I’d admit that there’s the odd day when it smells of the surrounding farms! This area of the UK, the southwest, is far less homogenised that the more crowded southeast. We are fairly near Stonehenge, Glastonbury, the Georgian city of Bath, and not that far from the Jurassic coast (packed with fossils and crumbling cliffs).
Thank you to Safia for sharing with us! Now turn off your computer and go make something! Even better if you reuse something discarded to do it. Don’t forget to send us a photo of your creation!
Do you also want to share your own hosting story? We are always on the lookout for hosts with interesting perspectives to share! Email us to tell us all about it and you could be in our next feature!
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