SEE YOU SOON

A Creative Connection Project

In early 2021, our intrepid Creative Agents, Colin & Ali, spent three months, February to May, developing a co-creating a postcard project with communities across Fenland and West Suffolk (Forest Heath). In doing so they unearthed many questions about the nature of our social networks, our communities, creativity and its importance in everyday life.

The Project Diary

February 2021 – We resisted “The Loneliness Project”

It was too negative. We chose See You Soon! as it was a well-known postcard phrase like Wish You Were Here! It suggested reaching out to people, to communities and it was open to all ages and backgrounds. Most important of all, like the cards, it was a fun and hopeful title for the project.

2020 had been a complex and often frustrating year. “Keep it Simple” became our mantra. Twelve months after the ‘first wave’ the enthusiasm for online activities was on the wane. Despite the greatest of good intentions people were tired of being encouraged to ‘be creative’, tired of the pressure to be artistic and clever. We weren’t about to add more stress to people’s lives. 

March 2021 – We landed on the idea of postcards

Writing with a pen a short message to a friend, family member or work colleague, or even someone on the same street. The ‘Art of Writing’ a physical card, walking to the letterbox and sending it through the postal service is, for many people, almost a forgotten skill. Most people these days use text, social media or email.

POSTCARDS?

After much discussion we landed on the ‘connection’ theme. The idea of postcards popped up – to encourage The Art of physical writing and making connections with others. We needed to commission a set of unique postcards that would appeal to a wide range of people and would encourage them to take part. 

We approached our network of community leaders and group representatives to discuss the idea. Reconnecting people would require the human touch at every level. We talked with:

• West Suffolk Family Liason Teams
• Care Network Fenland
• Age UK (Wisbech & Chatteris)
• Women’s Register (Wisbech)
• Care Homes
• Special Needs Education Teachers
• Social Club organisers

Through these conversations we learnt the ways in which many community groups were badly affected by the pandemic regulations. Many groups were in danger of collapse without some means of staying connected and remaining active.

We hoped the cards would provide an opportunity for positive activity for family liason teams, mutual aid groups, council and library workers, community centre leaders and social clubs who were all dealing with community members suffering the effects of social isolation.

We knew that the cards needed to be:

• colourful
• cheerful
• open to all ages
• modern
• sympathetic
• all about Connection

April/May 2021 – Out and About

With the postcards speeding their way through the postal system we began to think about what other activities we could develop with groups using the idea of creative cards. Lockdown social distance restrictions were beginning to relax. it was time to try in-person activities – safely and with social distancing which made it difficult.

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The Cards found their way to participants through our network of community engagement officers and group leaders. Volunteers from our Creative Collective helped with distribution.

We’d like to thank all the teams who connected with us, took on the task and encouraged over 400 packs of postcards to be distributed across Fenland and the Forest Heath area of West Suffolk. 

THE CARDS AND ARTISTS

Penny Sobr and Rebecca Osborne both listened and understood the approach and the aims of the project.

Penny Sobr is known for her stylish and colourful work inspired by her years of fashion illustration. Her cards were bold, confident and made you want to send in the post. See her designs here

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Rebecca is an illustrator and we wanted something more interactive with her cards – asking people not only to write a message on the card but also add their own artistic elements inspired by her designs.

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Feedback that the cards had cheered people up and made them feel valued and inspired told us that a second pack of cards would work. We asked Penny if she could mentor two younger artists in designing a second set – giving them the opportunity to create something that would stretch their talents further.

Maryum Jadoon from Newmarket and Maysie Milborne from Midenhall joined the team. Both were encouraged to go beyond their traditional boundaries and explore montage and incorporate modern graphic design.

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We also included in the pack a “My Design” postcard – a simple frame asking people to design their own card and send back to us with some simple questions to answer too. You can find the community gallery further down the page.

A SURPRISE ELEMENT

Came through the discovery that Hairdressers and Barbers were becoming the social hubs for communities and many took the cards as a way of strengthening their connection with their customers. We’d like to thank all the cafes, hairdressing and barber shops for taking part so enthusiastically and we hope we can do more things in the future.

Below are the creative and fun offshoots that sprang to life once people were using the cards. Enjoy exploring the various elements and See You Soon!