Your best shot
If you have an interest in photography the Ashford Photographic Society offers a range of activities and events to help members improve their photography skills, learn new techniques, and share their work with other photography enthusiasts. The club meets weekly and welcomes photographers of all levels and you can attend one of the club's meetings as a guest, and then apply for membership if you wish.
Create a miniature garden
Terrapy is a green business that creates and sells terrariums and offers workshops in which participants learn to create their own miniature garden within a glass container. All the necessary materials and tools are provided, including plants, soil, decorative elements, and a glass container.
Owner, Seb, guides participants through the process step-by-step, offering tips and advice on how to design and create a beautiful and thriving terrarium.. The next workshop is in Ashford is on Sunday 27th May at Coachworks and costs £37 including tea and coffee and a light lunch. They also offer free workshops for registered charities and price reductions for not-for-profit organizations.
Make music
Kent Music is located in the Creative Quarter and gives children and young people the opportunity to sing and learn to play a wide variety of musical instruments. As well as music lessons they run one off events and a summer school. Over the next half term 11 – 18 year olds who can play an instrument or sing can join the Orchestra ONE ensemble to create some new music. You don’t need any experience composing or writing music – just enthusiasm and some new ideas.
Ashford Sings is a community choir that welcomes people of all ages and abilities to join and sing a variety of songs from different genres and cultures. Rehearsals take place every Sunday from 7-9 pm for £4 a session or £36 for an eleven week term. Their website provides a selection of music that the choir is practising that you can download.
If classical music is more your thing, the Ashford Choral Society meets on Tuesday evenings 7.30 – 9.15pm in the St. Mary the Virgin, Church in Willesborough.
Dance, sing and act!
JVh.o.m.e is the new creative hub and home of the Jasmin Vardimon Dance Company located in the Creative Quarter on the Henwood Estate. On Saturdays and Thursdays there’s a programme of dance and movement classes for children and adults and it’s possible to book a taster class in the first instance.
Their facilities include a large studio, fully sprung dance floor, full lighting, sound and audio-visual production set-up and a café plus a range of meeting rooms.
Also on the Henwood Estate, Dance Visions offers a wide range of dance classes for all ages including ballet, tap, modern, jazz, street dance, contemporary, and musical theatre. The classes are suitable for both recreational and professional dancers and there are also holiday workshops, dance parties, and performance opportunities for students to showcase their skills.
In the centre of Ashford, Theatretrain offers young people the chance to release their creativity with acting, singing and dancing classes plus the opportunity to perform in large scale performances at high profile venues.
Sew and recycle
Singleton Environment Centre is just 3 miles from the town centre and they have recently started a Sewing Circle that meets every Monday, from 10:30 to 12:30. Join in and help to make a range of beach bags, make-up bags, pencil cases and other items from donated tents and paddling pools. They’re also keen to receive more clean tents and paddling pools for the project so, if you have an old one lurking in your shed, get in touch!
Enjoy a creative workshop
Made in Ashford is a Community Interest Company (CIC) that provides a platform for local artists, designers and makers to showcase and sell their work. Across the road from their shop, you can get involved with their workshops in The Craft Ship or their twice a month Swig and Stitch Club at The Tap Room on Bank Street.
Sign up for a longer creative course
Ashford College in the centre of town has recently been rated “Outstanding” by Ofsted and offers a variety of creative courses for adults who want to explore their creative passions or who are interested in pursuing a career in the arts. The courses include Art and Design, Fashion and Textiles, Photography, Media, Graphic Design, Music, and Performing Arts. The college also provides access to studios, darkrooms, digital suites, and performance spaces.
Kent Adult Education offers a wide range of longer creative courses too, including garden design and calligraphy plus some online creative courses such as how to play the ukulele.
Ashford - a creative hub for East Kent
Ashford is not only a place to enjoy creative activities it’s set to become the creative hub for East Kent with plans to develop Newtown Works, the Grade II listed buildings and surrounding former railway land, into TV and film studios. Ashford International Studios will create masses of jobs in the creative industries and join the Creative Quarter on the Henwood Estate where the Jasmin Vardimon Dance Company has recently located and it is also the home of Kent Music and Dance Visions. Exciting times for Ashford!
Hannah
We're pleased to share this blog by Hannah, the daughter-in-law of Adam Roake and Catriona Campbell, partners in Orchard Farm.
