The workshop is based on aspirations for the future. The aim was to enhance their community and help them to think about how they would like to achieve but through a creative process. Materials selected where of a wider verity them previous workshops. They include paper and paints but also screen printing. Before the workshop, stencils were cut of objects and animals for them to use so they just had to lay them on blank screens and the ink pulled through. There was a high chance at the start that no one was going to come. Reasons being that it was the first workshop where it is not run within a building that the participants know and trust. This then exposes the difficulties of having the confidence to attend. Compared to the others, this workshop had been advertised for a number of weeks through the council, and interested was shown by 3 to 4 large families. The task like the others was simple, to create images based on the aims. Initially, the idea was to take the project further but having been told that the age range of children attending was from a year old to nine, it was easier to keep the task simple in order to fit all abilities. There was no one arriving at the start of the workshop but about an hour and a half in some participants arrive. They where a family of 7 from Somali. The children who took part sat approximately in the age ranges that were mentioned earlier and were very keen to start. Walking up to the studio, through the university was something the children found very exciting. They were running a peering through windows, asking questions and were really curious about the windows along the side of a corridor wall where you couldn't see what was on the other side. Despite previous worries, this was a very confident family. Both Mother and Father attend too. Once they had been given the brief on what to do they children went straight to the paints and started making. The mother oversaw the children but the father got a piece of paper, a couple of pens and sat at a desk by himself and drew an image that perfectly illustrated his aspirations ( see figure ...). This was interesting. He was a very quiet, shy person, spoke some English but his wife translated anything he was unsure about. The image he created had a was very humble. He had aspirations to be a farmer of vegetables and animals, he also wanted a cool skateboard as he put it with which to do all this with. The drawing was good and especially with the animals held a strong narrative. His wife then came over and wrote on the page ' Idea man.' They joked about this said it was because he has all the ideas. The connection they have as a family when you meet them is a very strong one. The mother was a patient women who was stern yet comforting towards her children. She herself was very confident and this played a key part in putting all the family at ease.
Once the children were underway with the task it became apparent that some were too young to be able to follow the concept. However, this didn't stop them playing with the materials and trying new skills such as screen printing with assistance. The elder two like the father follow the aim well. The eldest wanted to be a billionaire whilst the second eldest want to own a house in the forest with lots of birds. Within the conversation, they said that they are in school and proceed to say what their favourite subjects were, one of them being maths said by the eldest. The younger children struggled to understand English so the elder two children translated in conversations. The workshop lasted an hour and a half. Having a good amount of people attending was a positive thing. It meant that they were able to fulfil one of the aims but not enhancing there community and getting to know other families. If attendance had been higher then this concept would have worked. The processes they used in the workshop was highly enjoyed. Especially the screen printing. they younger members enjoyed pulling the ink through and creating the print. Also, the youngest had a fascination with the shade the ink was of blue. Her mother commented that she obsessed with blue as her hand was reaching up to the top of the table to grab the spoon cover in blue ink, nearly bringing the container with it. Towards the end of the workshop, they were given a free sketchbook and pencil. The eldest who had got slightly bored by this point was writing in the book, his father later joined in with him. The father was then very keen to show me what his son had done. He had written the numbers up to ... in roman numerals and written a fact about the earth and sun, with a small illustration by the side of it. His father commented that he is very clever. Even though not many attend the family still benefited hugely from the workshop. Learning new skills and just spending time having fun and playing as a family is valuable.
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