I have been volunteering at MADE in East Lothian for about three months now; I volunteer on Wednesday and Saturday each week. On Wednesday, MADE hosts New Beginnings, a community group of adults with special needs. With this group, we’ve made Christmas decorations, Hallowe’en crafts and rock painting.
I’ve helped out with various workshops including Hallowe’en Crafts and Christmas Crafts. I help to set up the workshops and try out the craft process to find out what works or what doesn’t.
I have also contributed to creating window displays. For the Remembrance Day window, we designed silhouettes of a soldier and some animals, and we strung purple and red poppies. At Christmas, we used donated willow and tissue paper to create three wise people and willow lanterns.
Two years ago, I came to MADE for my school work experience and I enjoyed it so much I wanted to come back! Volunteering at MADE has been a great opportunity for me as I am now studying an art foundation course at Edinburgh College. On my course, I have been learning a range of new skills and I am particularly enjoying print making. In my free time, I create collages.
The staff at MADE are all great to work with and enthusiastic about what they do here. Emily has been helpful and fun to work with and has taught me lots of new skills such as lino printing and working with willow.
I have also learnt how to take payments using the card machine, which is an important skill. It took a few tries to get used to it but I do feel a lot more confident now.
