(Image: Helen Smith Photography)
A North East pottery couple have launched a community-focused social enterprise to broaden their creative work.
Alan and Valerie Dunnighan, who run Mitford Pottery at the North East BIC, in Sunderland, have launched Wear Crafts CIC.
The venture is based in a second unit at the centre and will host craft workshops, community activities and local makers.
A self-taught potter, Mr Dunnighan was inspired to take up ceramics by watching The Great Pottery Throw Down.
He said: "We'd both been thinking about expanding Mitford Pottery, but we wanted to do it in a different way.
Alan and Valerie Dunnighan, who run Mitford Pottery at the North East BIC, have launched Wear Crafts CIC (Image: Helen Smith Photography)
"We wanted to offer something a little bit different, something that was more of a general craft offering and gave something back to the local community."
The couple founded Mitford Pottery to share Mr Dunnighan's passion for ceramics, then saw an opportunity to offer more creative activities.
After speaking to other CICs, they realised a social enterprise could reach more people and create a dedicated community space.
He said: "We had the seeds of the idea and then had a meeting with the BIC, and it all went from there.
"They gave us plenty of advice from the get-go and showed us how we could keep Mitford Pottery going while starting Wear Crafts as two separate entities."
Funding from The National Lottery Community Fund will help them run activities for the community.
The first sessions will focus on pottery and glass painting, alongside creative workshops including a "sip and paint" event.
Participants can book a place and choose whether to paint a ceramic or glass piece. The Dunnighans hope to add jewellery, felt crafts and wreath-making.
Mr Dunnighan said: "We thought we'd offer something different, like sip and paint, and as it progresses, we're going to try and expand that into general craft making, a little bit of fashion jewellery, felt making, wreath making, and glass painting.
"It's like when I started the pottery.
"It was all about giving people access to my passion.
"And that's the same with Wear Crafts."
The social enterprise will offer accessible sessions for people of all abilities, as well as special bookings for community groups.
Wear Crafts will support local makers with space and resources to run sessions they may otherwise lack the confidence or facilities to organise.
Plans for retail shelving will give craftspeople space to sell their work to a wider audience.
The workshop is open from 10am to 2pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with plans to extend its hours as more volunteers join.
Wear Crafts (Image: Supplied)
Social enterprise adviser Kirsty McSween said: "It's been fantastic to see Alan and Valerie develop the idea for Wear Crafts from those initial conversations into something that can make a real difference in the local community.
"Mitford Pottery has become a much-loved part of the city's creative community since it opened its doors and we have every confidence Wear Crafts will prove just as big a hit.
"It will be a real asset for the area."
Their relationship with the BIC, the centre’s central location and its out-of-hours access made it the ideal place to expand.
Mr Dunnighan said: "The BIC have been fantastic with us ever since we moved here.
"The team really went above and beyond to help us when moving in and have always been there to give us advice and help us since.
"Sometimes you become a little bit unguided on what you're trying to achieve, and it has been good to be able to bounce things off people who have helped lots of businesses in the past.
"They've seen the pitfalls and helped keep us on track with what we wanted to achieve."
Read more
Much-loved park to get major makeover as volunteers secure funding boost
Fires, smashed glass and vandalism spark safety fears at County Durham leisure centre
Charlie Hunnam and Alan Shearer back new North East festival looking for filmmakers
Wear Crafts is a two-year project that aims to run more workshops, involve more community groups and support more makers and volunteers.
Mr Dunnighan said: "We're hoping to keep it quite flexible for the local community to create what they want.
"We want to get people into crafts as much as possible, put more sessions on and have more crafters involved."