Collaborating with Laura Mulhern, TOSH is super excited to be piloting its first Start Up Programme for early career stage creatives. Here's why we're doing it and how it's going!

Truly keeping us going through lockdown, we were planning our dream scheme through the Winter months of 2020. Since TOSH's launch at the end of 2019, we've been offering Start Up Workspaces for creatives - a subsidised, full time desk space with added suport and guidance - but we've always wanted to be able to offer more to the growing creative talent in Bournemouth. (We have a super arts university after all, and we want to keep more of those graduates and their awesome ideas here don't we?!)

We absolutely dreamed of specialised, onsite workshops, held by an experienced creative that could offer their sagely advice and mentorship... Cue our Laura Mulhern! With over 15 years of creative industry experience, running her own arts and design marketing agency, we caught Laura just at the point that she was putting Plan Make Do into the universe - her new project that allowed her to indulge in something close to her heart - nurturing creative sprouts.

Between TOSH, Laura and our amazing neighbours at Outset East Dorset who partnered with us to support piloting the programme, our dreams could finally be realised.

We're now into month 4 of our 6 month programme and we're thrilled with how it's going. Laura leads a very interactive monthly workshop on business skills, whilst our creative Start Up crew meets every Friday in between. This month is the first that we'll all meet in person - and although it's been more online than we'd hoped, I think we'd all agree that we've just really benefitted from having a focus and something to throw ourselves into.

The artists have absolutely bonded, with collaborations quickly happening, which is totally the best we could hope for - a community of creatives learning and lifting each other up, something we're so glad to be seeing more and more of as the Bournemouth arts scene becomes increasingly connected.

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If you fancy joining us for a future Start Up Programme, then please do drop us a message and we'll keep you posted about the next wave!

The fabulous artwork for our Start Up Programme has been created by local illustrator Jake Williams.