Stirchley Art Club

Update: We reached our initial goal in January 2025 and have enough funds to keep the art club running until the end of April. Thank you to everyone who has donated and shared. Sadly we have again been turned down for funding. We are therefore continuing to fundraise and to write further funding bids.

Hi, my name is Sarah and I am fundraising for Stirchley Art Club.

I run Stirchley Art Room CIC with my colleague Nicki. We have been running free art sessions for adults in Stirchley Library since 2019. We currently run three daytime sessions and one evening session per week with approximately 60 individuals per week attending the club. Each session is run by a qualified art teacher with support from a specialist workshop assistant. They are for people of all abilities, from professionals to beginners, and adults of all ages and backgrounds come along for all sorts of reasons - friendship, personal development, well-being and mental health, and artistic development.

Making these sessions, equipment, materials, and guidance free of charge is an important part of our mission to make art experience accessible for everyone.

Our daytime sessions are currently funded and they are secure. Sadly, despite our best efforts to secure repeat funding, our Thursday evening session is currently unfunded. We will continue to submit new bids for funding but this will take time, and with reserves dwindling the club is facing closure. This evening art club is especially important for those who can’t make the daytime sessions due to work, childcare, and other reasons.

So … now we need your help.

If we scale the provision back to its leanest budget we can continue to run Stirchley Art Club Evenings for £145 per week, covering room hire, art materials, and living wage for two practitioners. To run for another 6 months while we make funding applications means raising £3480, and we think we can do this with your help.

Please consider donating to our fundraiser. It will mean the world to our regular art club participants who benefit so much from access to free art activity in an accessible and welcoming community space.