Staff representatives from Waterford City and County Council along with founder of Meraki Marketing, Nuala Browne Tracey, travelled to Ballymena from February 18th to 20th for Mid and East Antrim Borough Council’s Creative Enterprise Week. Nuala was invited to give a talk to St. Louis Grammar School students about sustainability and the circular economy of the clothing industry. We were very impressed with the school Centre of Excellence for Creative and Expressive Arts which allows students to take part in fashion, design, drama, music and the technologies required to support their work.
Nuala also spoke about marketing and sustainability to retailers at Midtown Makers Gift Shop – a Ballymena Business Centre project recognising the need to provide a support network for local crafters and a desire to help regenerate Ballymena town centre. The makers spoke to the Waterford visitors about the range of supports and programmes for new and emerging crafters, including ”Retail Ready” which is a programme that offers small craft & service businesses in the Ballymena area an opportunity to test trade and sell their handmade products in a retail environment without incurring the usual costs associated with renting retail space.
On February 20th we were invited to visit Positive Carrickfergus, a community based network working together to build community, promote community-led regeneration and increase civic participation so that Carrickfergus is a great place to live. This group delivers cultural events, talks, podcasts and even set up a community owned and managed greengrocers after consulting with the local community on what they would like to see taking place in the town centre.
Jayne Clarke of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council said “the Mid and East Antrim team were really delighted to see the return to Ballymena of our project partner Katherine Collins from Creative Waterford, this time joined by ethical fashion and textile sustainability consultant Nuala Browne Treacy and Senior Development Officer Jacqui Gaule from Waterford Local Enterprise Office.
Over their three day visit, everyone was keen to share their experience and aspirations to support and grow local creative industries in their areas. Collectively we learnt more about how creative folk can be more entrepreneurial to bring their products to market with an authentic and ethical voice using digital platforms and the importance of sustainability as consumers to protect the environment. We also learned about artists and creatives having a healing role in their local community in a self-starting, but inclusive way that looks outwards.
We appreciated St Louis Grammar opening up their fabulous art centre and involving over eighty of their students in a future of fashion presentation; Mid Town Makers with Ballymena Business Centre showcasing local talent and Positive Carrickfergus social enterprise delving so generously into their vision and motivation. We hope that there are opportunities for future collaboration through the Building Shared Creative Communities project building on this year’s inaugural Mid and East Antrim Creative Industries Week.”
