Medway Community Scholarships engage the Medway community in order to provide cultural, educational, physical or environmental benefit.

In October 2015, the Medway Community Scholarship Board awarded scholarships to fund three non-academic projects which proposed to develop specific areas of the Medway community.

This year’s Medway Community Scholars introduce their projects below.

Caring Hands art workshops

Final year student Charlotte Harding from the School of Music and Fine Art talks about her community project.

‘Working with the Caring Hands Organisation and the newly formed Skilful Hands, I am running workshops to create personalised art.

‘The artwork visitors to Caring Hands produce will go on to be exhibited in the Nucleus Art Centre on Chatham High Street later this year.

‘Having completed two sessions so far, I have noticed that there is a wide variety of creative flare. The participants get really involved and make the piece their own and interestingly don’t mimic their neighbour.

‘At the start of the session I will show an example of the sort of work they might want to produce to give them some inspiration.

‘I also cut the size of the canvas and select a medium in which we will work. Having this in place the participants can then really focus on how they will design and personalise their piece of art.

‘In future sessions I will develop the skills that the participants have developed throughout the session, highlighting achievements made and how it can help in their daily lives.

‘To make sure the workshops run smoothly I test the artwork myself and research different ideas for workshop sessions. As the art is going into a gallery I am keen to make it personal to the participant so the audience at the gallery can see the beauty of the people I have been working with.’

Wetlands project

Postgraduate student Nadia Perrotta from the School of Music and Fine Art introduces her project.

‘Wetlands is an art project initiated in 2015 inspired by the powerful metaphor of a possible memory retained and preserved by the waters.

‘The aim of the project is for students and alumni of the University to involve and interact with local communities living in proximity of waters, recreating a dialogue between them, their maritime history and the wetland landscape.

‘For Wetlands 2016, we are running film workshops for young people, in collaboration with Youth Centres of Hoo St Werburgh, Chattenden and Grain.

‘Students from School of Music and Fine Art will create video and sound works from the documentation collected.

‘These works will be included in a series of events in March. Events will start on Monday 14 March and conclude on Thursday 24 March.

‘We will exhibit in four local libraries: Hoo St Werburgh, Grain, Lordswood, Wigmore; as well as Sun Pier House, Brook Theatre and the University’s Royal Dockyard Church Lecture Theatre.

Cre8 Confidence

Final year student Charlotte Harding and second year student Emma Acton, both from the School of Music and Fine Art, talk about their community project.

‘We have a range of workshops planned with Creative Arts and Performance students from MidKent College.

‘The series of workshops will be themed around

• Team building and communication
• Public speaking
• Crediting oneself
• Posture and body language

‘The workshops will engage students in a range of activities to boost the confidence and self-esteem.

‘The project will also derive a review video and leave a potential legacy for students to continue such workshops in the future.’