Author: Cathbad

School Visiting!

It’s that time of year when we get requests to visit Schools again!

We offer tailor made visits to each school. we usually visit for a full day and use a combination of clothing, crafts, games, and objects to hold to involve the pupils in a story. They get to spend a day with one of the people who has contributed to the Scotland we live in today.

For large schools we bring a team, but our visitors are used to working with small schools where there is sometimes only one class in the whole school. Our activities are flexible and can be accessed at various levels by the pupils and teachers.

As a community interest company we use any surplus from visiting large schools to subsidise visiting smaller and remote schools. We also try to pay our visitors a real living wage! Contributions from volunteer visitors allow us to enhance the experience for pupils.

Someone of the status of Cathbad (in these pictures) would usually have servants to do the heavy lifting and ensure his comfort while travelling. However turbulent times sometimes call for unusual journeys to seek refuge carrying the things you think important!

Making space News

Making Space

Making Space will return for February.

Thursday evenings 19.00 to 21.00

This is a club not a led workshop.

Think of it as an excuse to get round to it, especially the things it would be unwise to do on your kitchen table. Bring your own materials and projects. You could also try something new with the donated materials and tools we have accumulated – or turn junk into raw materials ready to be used.

From time to time regulars are willing to share their skills and materials, and so some evenings will have a theme. Information about that, and any costs, will be posted on this site.

We ask for £5 a time to cover overheads,

or you can contribute in kind if you are short of cash, chat with Simon.

Make a candle holder on the 6th!

Thursdays 19.00 to 21.00	Wordsmithcrafts Studio, 3 James Avenue, DG2 9AU
30th of January	Making Space
6th of February	Simon – Blacksmithing intro Make a candle lifter/lamp £15
13th	Making Space
20th	NO MAKING SPACE
26th	Perhaps with added stories?

If you’d like to support what’s going on in a more regular pattern then you could become a Cluaran member.

News

Hidden Gem

Post author By Cathbad
Post date 30/12/2024
No Comments on Hidden Gem

Here is a hidden gem from the recent past, introducing people to a hidden gem from centuries past.

News

Merry Christmas

Be courageous, Valiant!

May your faith take you places that challenge your beliefs, and give you the strength to transform with mirth.

Events

White Hot Too

Before lockdown we used to hold “making Space” sessions in the studio. They were called “White Hot” events, because one of the crafts available is smithing.

Well, this year there will be another opportunity

This is not a class, but it is a chance to get round to it. An opportunity to share skills. Recycled and gathered materials are available for free. Contribute what you can to support Cluaran overheads and use of the space.

Simon has a variety of materials for sale as well

Events Making Christmas 2024

Christmas Ghosts

But what! I hear you exclaim as you read. Ghosts are Halloween, and not Christmas…

Perhaps it is easier to think about the spirit of Christmas. It might be an accident whether you think of Santa Clause, Sinterklaas, Santeclaus. Much has been written about connections with Father Christmas, Yule, Saturnalia. But is there something deeper about gift giving, lights in darkness and a suspension of the normal order of things when the night is at its longest and we wait for summer to return?

In the run up to Christmas 2024 we have been making space for making in the Loreburne Centre. People have dropped in and encountered surprises from their past. they have worn hats (and other clothes) plucked from the stream of time and have taken selfies with shields.

By ringing a bell they have made time for stories, or have simply sat and watched fish swimming into a river labyrinth. On the tables young and old have made board games, leather pouches and jewellery from left over and discarded things.

In doing so we make space to discover, though making, what ghosts of Christmas past we have experienced. We have explored possibilities about what the spirit of Christmas might be, and lay the groundwork for finding out what might happen in the future. We aim to help people see things differently, ask questions, and get a taste for looking for answers.

This weekend we will be in the Loreburne centre on both Saturday and Sunday for the last weekend of Making Christmas 2024

Please drop in for a chat, to make something, or just to relax in the space.

Making Christmas 2024 News

Making Managed

Five volunteers, Wordsmith Crafts props and tools. Add henerous handfulls of members of the public wandering around the town on a saturday. Mix in a Stove Network space for one Saturday then cook.

Be careful not to overheat, and only use the finest volunteer ingredients and you can be sure of an excellent outcome (“Best day ever” – a weegie student).

Thanks to Galloway Longfhada for joining us, hopefully there will be more gigs and recruits on their way!

More photos will follow.

schools

Beattock Primary

Cathbad visited Beattock Primary School recently. Here is their post on facebook which gives you an insight into how we navigate our way through history.

boat building Making Christmas 2024

I Saw Free Ships

Dumfries is a port. Dock park has mooring bollards – so where are the boats?

This week at “Making Christmas” There will be a focus on boat building. We will be joined by reps from “Nith Skiff” The Dumfries Coastal Rowing and Boat Building Group.

There will be the core activities of making things from recycled and donated materials, and essentially making time to relax in the storytelling tent.

Could you be part of a plan to build a St Ayles Skiff in Dumfries next year? We could take part in Nithraid and other activities along the Solway and beyond.