What A Week It Was...

12/18/2015

It was one busy week. So busy in fact that it took us a week to recover and report back. We've taken a selection of pictures from it, so you can take a look for yourselves. Over Saturday and Sunday the 5th and the 6th December we had the most jam-packed Winter Sale ever, and sold over 1000 pots. The proceeds all go to support early-career ceramicists in establishing their businesses. In addition, we raised over £1700 for medical emergency supplies for one of our students, nurse Hannah Goodwin, to take to Calais to help refugees set up a medical centre.

We were also part of Hey Clay, the initiative by the Craft Council and the BBC's Get Creative to get more people getting their hands in clay. We ran free taster sessions with our resident artist Ben Sutton throughout Friday the 4th.

Tallie spent Friday 4th at the Treasury meeting George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and other small business owners, as Turning Earth has been chosen as one of the Small Business 100 - a group of businesses that represent the diversity and innovation in the sector. She learned that small business makes up 60% of the UK private economy. This means that a well-organised small business and co-work movement should be able to influence policy to support more sustainable, decentralised industry, which is what Turning Earth is all about. Together, small businesses dwarf the multinational corporations that the likes of Osborne meet every day and we hope to see them gaining more influence. Organising under the banner of Small Business Saturday seems like a good first step.

For now, we will wish you a Happy Christmas, take a breather, and come back refreshed in the New Year. Our next studio sale will be held on Easter Saturday, 26th March 2016.

Image: Sabrina Dallot-Seguro

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Turning Earth artists donated lots of pots to raise money for emergency medical supplies for refugees in Calais. They sold like hot cakes and we made £1700 for the relief effort. To donate, please click through this link: https://crowdfunding. justgiving .com/refugee-first-aid Image: Sabrina Dallot-Seguro — Turning Earth artists donated lots of pots to raise money for emergency medical supplies for refugees in Calais. They sold like hot cakes and we made £1700 for the relief effort. To donate, please click through this link: https://crowdfunding.justgiving.com/refugee-first-aidImage: Sabrina Dallot-Seguro

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Coil pot by one of the Hey Clay students.

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Hey Clay for the Crafts Council and BBC Get Creative. On Friday the 4th December we ran a couple of free coiling workshops with Ben Sutton to give new students the chance to get their hands in clay.

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Turning Earth founder, Tallie (second from right), with Michelle Ovens MBE and other members of the Small Business 100 at the Small Business Saturday Fair at the Treasury on Friday 4th December 2015.

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A silly selfie with George Osborne to a) prove it happened and b) because one of the other small business owners shouted "what about the girls?" as he was being ushered away, so the Chancellor was forced to stop in his tracks. Hopefully the voice of small business can be as effective at influencing the government on bigger issues.

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Tallie with Michelle Ovens MBE, the pioneer behind Small Business Saturday UK.

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