Creativity champion for The January Challenge 2025

Application deadline: Sunday 2nd June at 8pm

Duration: 12 days, July 2024 - July 2025

Fee: £3,000

Are you a creativity champion? 64 Million Artists is recruiting a cohort of creativity champions to support the delivery of The January Challenge 2025. 

The January Challenge is a national campaign for creativity and wellbeing by 64 Million Artists - 31 days of fun, accessible prompts designed to spark your imagination! Each prompt invites you to 'do, think, and share' – get creative, reflect on your experience, and share in a way that's meaningful to you. The prompts are designed by people, community groups and organisations from across the UK. They explore anything (and everything!) from writing, making, exploring and movement. Find past examples here.

Over 160,000 people worldwide participated in The January Challenge 2024, experiencing joy, connection, and personal growth. In fact, 93% of participants reported a positive impact on their wellbeing. You can read more about the 2024 campaign here.

The ideal applicant for this role is somebody who is motivated to establish or develop a group, using creative prompts to connect and build community. The role is an opportunity to develop your own skills as a Creativity Champion, be a part of a cohort with others and to invest time and energy into pursuing an idea or area of interest you have.

What is a Creativity Champion?

We know that creativity thrives within community spaces (at work, home, or localised groups) when the right conditions are nurtured; people have a sense of agency, there is access to resources, and a culture of inclusion. We call the facilitators of these conditions Creativity Champions. Creativity Champions are people working in a range of community settings; they are librarians, arts-coordinators in prisons, hospitals and care homes, cultural sector workers, community group and team leaders. Our programmes support Creativity Champions and their wellbeing, whilst also developing their practice to grow impact in their communities.

Creativity Champions will invite others to participate in The January Challenge and create opportunities for people to get creative together. They might establish new groups or introduce the Challenge to groups or communities they are already a part of. The activity can be delivered in any language, including British Sign Language, and all January Challenge materials will be available in the Welsh Language. We can also offer translation services into Polish, Urdu or Punjabi. The group you work with might be:

• A community connected by place (at work, or home)
• A community connected by lived experience
• A community connected by shared interest

Click here for more from the 64 Million Artists team, on what it means to be a Creativity Champion.

Key activities

• Designing 3 of the 31 creative prompts that will become a part of The January Challenge campaign (supported by 64 Million Artists).
• Develop and host a creative group and support the group to take part in The January Challenge. This work includes developing marketing materials, establishing a space to share and connect and seeking opportunities to spread the word!
• Further to your work with your group, we will work together to host one event open to the public during January (this might be an in person workshop, a talk online, a panel event, etc - and we will work with you to make sure it feels appropriate and relevant to you and your work)
• Attend In-Person Sessions (these will take place in London and travel expenses will be covered)

Timeline

• Wednesday 17th July 2024 - Kick Off and Welcome Day
• Wednesday 18th September 2024 - Training and Support Day
• Wednesday 16th October 2024 - Training and Support Day
• Wednesday 19th February 2025 - Reflection and Feedback Day
• Thursday 17th July 2025 - Check In and Reflections (½ Day)

On the training and support days, we will cover; safeguarding, creative facilitation, marketing your idea, and access and inclusion principles. We will also explore creative ways to embed impact measurement into your work with your group and how you can embed reflection & learning across the process. These days will also be an opportunity for 1-2-1 and peer to peer support.

64 Million Artists will support you with:

• Ongoing 1-2-1 online sessions to establish clear boundaries around what you would like to do and what support you might need to do it.
• A sharing forum for the cohort to connect with and support each other
• Access to The January Challenge Champions Pack 2024 (available in English and Welsh), including the challenges ahead of time, and optional session plans
• Additional expenses you might incur whilst hosting activity, including room hire, snacks, travel and access costs
• Access support and cost covered wherever required

We work responsively, and will always endeavour to support you to feel safe and comfortable in the role.

Access

Access is a fundamental component of The January Challenge and all of the groups, events and workshops that happen alongside it. We will work with you to identify the right support for both your involvement as a Creativity Champion and for your group.

Please state in your application that you found this role through Creative Access.