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Our focus and aims:

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Make the Sunshine is a community interest company based in Shepton Mallet. We run innovative theatre projects, creative workshops and performances in local spaces, working with south west artists and local communities. Our work is about connecting local communities through creativity.

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DOWNLOAD OUR IMPACT REPORT HERE

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Below are some of the core values that inform our work.

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CONNECT

• Our work is about bringing people together. Building confidence, increasing social connection and discovering new horizons..

• We believe something magic happens in shared creative experiences – something that gives us the confidence to talk to the person next to us, to laugh or cry together, to mark the seasons to create unique memories.

• We are passionate about intergenerational work and creating creative spaces where people come together and try something new, exchange ideas and experiences, and create a sense of belonging and community.

 

CREATE

• We believe creativity connects us – to ourselves, to each other, to the world around us. Creativity can be that spark that ignites friendship, reduces loss, shares a story, ignites a passion, heals a wound, makes us feel valued and most importantly makes us smile.

• We know something magical happens when people create together and we work hard to create the conditions that allow this to flourish

• Of all the tools in our creative toolkit we think imagination is the most important and growing imaginations is crucial to everything we do.

 

INSPIRE

• We are passionate about creating creative environments where everyone feels valued – creating spaces where people have the confidence to try new things, be ambitious, and dream.

• We believe everyone deserves high quality artistic opportunities and we are passionate about working with and supporting south west artists. Over the last seven years we’ve been lucky to bring some of most exciting creatives to our hometown including The Wardrobe Ensemble, Paddleboat Theatre, Theatre Alibi, Squashbox, Brook Tate and Wassail Theatre Company.  From opera singers to international violinists, from giant puppet makers to flamenco artists.

• We have also supported many artists to experiment – trying new work in schools, exploring new ideas and ways of working.

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TOGETHER

• We are passionate about putting decisions in the hands of the community – be that through performances created and commissioned by young people, creative exchanges led by care homes and schools, or establishing youth programming panels (who programme Shepton’s annual All the World’s Our Playground Festival).

• We work very closely with schools and care homes as well as lots of third sector partners and organisations. We are lucky to work with a range of core schools in Shepton Mallet (Bowlish Infant School, St Paul’s Junior School, Shepton Mallet Infants, St Aldhelm’s, Oakhill Church School, The Mendip School and The Federation of Croscombe and Stoke St Michael) where we have built strong relationships and ways of working together to maximise opportunities for local people.

• Our provision for communities, wherever possible, is free of charge for participants or by optional donation. Everything we do is about engaging people who might not think of themselves as an artist or an audience member.

• We feel very lucky to be part of such a rich community of art organisations and spaces and to have a town council who see the value of creativity.

• We aspire to be small and to nurture and grow really meaningful relationships in our local community in Mendip. We are passionate about our local area and believe growing meaningful and established local partnerships results in stronger work and greater outcomes. We work with a range of hugely talented local partners and practitioners to do this.

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