Creative Workspace
From May 2017 until December 2020 Paul, alongside Ellie Freeman and Gill Simmons, leased a building in Withywood, south Bristol, and ran it as a community arts centre called Creative Workspace.
Creative Workspace provided affordable rehearsal space for Bristol artists, hosted school holiday creative workshops for families and brought in a host of local artists of all disciplines to help run these activities. High quality family theatre made by south west companies also toured to the venue and weekly groups for local families with babies and pre-schoolers were established. A community cafe was open between Tuesdays-Friday additionally.
Creative Workspace provided work experience for local Year 10 students and interns from Bristol University supported the programme and marketing of the venue. Employment was offered to local people in the cafe and there were volunteering opportunities for local people available as well. Other youth organisations including the hospital tutor used the venue as a hub to support local young people. The venue also had a film licence and hosted relaxed family film screenings.
Photography by Bristol University students and artwork by local artists was exhibited in the cafe. A little boy aged three discovered for the first time at Creative Workspace was a paintbrush was, and painted for three hours solid.
Unfortunately the Covid-19 pandemic made the possibility of the venue continuing impossible. In April 2020 the very difficult decision to leave this project was made.