Category: Story Posts

Jill Blanchard, Member of Brandon Creative Forum & the MarketPlace Creative Collective.

Tell us a little about yourself outside of Brandon Creative Forum.

I’m Jill Blanchard, retired but with many more years to go (I hope). I’ve lived in Brandon for the past 37 years so I’m still classed as a newcomer. When we returned from living abroad for 17 years we moved to London, which lasted about 6 months and then decided to come to this area, with our two sons, three dogs, adopted a cat (actually she adopted us) and then along the way, a horse. Now, just my husband and I live here with no house pets but still a horse (not the original one).

I enjoy carriage driving and messing around at the stables. I’ve always had a deep interest in amateur theatre and have been engaged with all that that entails. In addition to the Brandon Creative Forum I work with three other ladies to put on Pumpkin Fest in the Country Park. And with a friend of mine, putting together the town Christmas Grotto, where we take over the whole Heritage Centre, mostly from recycled and sustainably resourced items. Brandon is in a lovely area with the forest and its wildlife, and with open countryside out to the fens. I would say quiet but with USAF nearby that isn’t always the case.

Why do you feel creativity is important for the town and local area?

We need creativity in Brandon to bring the best out of the community, especially the younger generation. It’s up to each one of us to show, encourage and take part in seeing, enjoying and pushing the boundaries to achieve.

Being part of MarketPlace has certainly broadened my horizons and creative thinking, mixing and learning both from others on the forum representing artists, poetry, writing, music. Our new Creative Collective is opening new doors, investigating more and joining with the other MarketPlace towns to share our experiences and knowledge collected along the way.

I’m looking forward to more meetings, investigating new and interesting aspects and share our experiences with each other so we can all help build and bring new excitement to our communities.

Do you have any creative plans for the future?

Hopefully, as Brandon Creative Forum, we are adding to local events and there certainly seems to be an appetite for the more unusual with community participation, and the emphasis on enjoyment by “having a go” besides watching and being able to enjoy activities not normally associated with our town.

A long time ambition of mine and I know others on our forum, is to have an Arts Centre in the town. Brandon does not have a centre for community use, drawing the whole community together. All of our hopes and dreams can only come with the continued support from Market Place and those who support it, but the first place for Brandon needing a community facility I think will be our local council, so beware all, we will be needing your continued help and support.

So tell us a little bit about you and about The Barleycorn Cafe.

I did a creative degree years ago, then I fell into sales as something that I loved but I’ve always worked in creative type industries, whether it was makeup, advertising, magazines and publishing, but this was a dream of mine; creating a hub. I’d lived here for a year and a half and I didn’t know anyone. There were real gaps in the creative side, in the well-ness side and in the good food side. Mildenhall has a plethora of takeaways but nothing that’s really healthy and gorgeous. For me, my intention for here is to create something that is healing in every aspect for people. Whether it’s their creativity, their tummy, their wellness as far as well-being and mental health. 

What is it that makes The Barleycorn a hub?

Talking to people, it’s got to be communication. Even just the conversation we had this morning about singing groups around here, there used to be groups years ago – 20 years ago, I mean for goodness sake! Let’s fill that gap and if it makes people feel good, then let’s do it! 

Our surgery really appreciates what we’re doing and we’re part of that network. Some people are nursing husbands or partners that are terminally ill, some that are recently bereaved, or recovering from breast cancer – everyone here has got a story. The art journaling was really good for that. Everyone who comes into this place are coming in and feeding their energy into this environment. I just think it’s fascinating.

_{How does the Meet Up Monday’s programme affect you and your business?} 

It’s the hardest thing. I would devote all my time to just doing stuff for nothing, but then with my business – someone is knocking on my head saying “you’ve got to earn a bit of money” and “it’s got to pay the bills”. You go full out into something and then you think, I’ve got to leave some of my energy to doing that side of things. But I think you can do the two together, it’s definitely doable. 

Where would you like to see The Barleycorn going in the future? 

I’d love for us to be seen as a go to destination for being friendly, offering creative options and just really for people to feel safe. I’d love this to be art based 24/7, with different projects going on because I am really selfish, I only do things that I like. There isn’t going to be any washing up clubs that’s for sure. 

The key areas at the moment are loneliness, we’ve got a lot of people that are bereaved, especially the gentlemen, the wife might be the source of contact and then sadly they’re at the age where they lose their wife and they lose that entry into a social life. Also, post-natal, you can see there’s a need there and it might not be a typical mother and baby group. And the youngsters, you get so many issues and it’s all aired on Facebook – children running riot and doing damage. 

Wouldn’t it be nice if rather than concentrate on the negatives, we could actually do something that was going to be a positive influence?