Volunteering with creative stirling
Coming into Creative Stirling as an older volunteer was a really unique experience. The space in Made in Stirling is one that fosters creativity just by being in it. You are surrounded by artwork by some of the most talented creatives in Scotland, and the people who work here really encourage that creative spirit. In the last year, thanks to the positive encouragement I have received from Sam, Ryan and the team, I have been able to not only develop some really exciting projects with the staff and the youth volunteers, but also work on some personal and professional projects in my own life, which would have been impossible without all the things I have learned here in 2025.
Throughout the year, I got the chance to work on some really exciting projects and workshops. Our two big projects for the year were ‘Comin’ Oot’, our LGBT themed boardgame, and ‘A Birdseye View on Hatecrime’, a campaign that we worked on for hate crime awareness week that included launch events and a short animated film.
When making ‘Comin’ Oot’ we began by sharing some of our experiences as part of the LGBTQIA+ community, which would then inform how the game was created. While some of the experiences were difficult to hear and share, many of them were very hopeful and positive, and having both was very important to us, as while it was also imperative the game was fun, having real experiences that would educate and inform was just as essential. This important session would form the basis for one of the mechanics of the game, ‘Glimmer and Trigger Cards’. We took the project right from a concept to a playable game, and the whole group had input on rules, design and art for the different kinds of cards and the board. This really helped us come together and take pride in something we had all put so much work into.
When planning our animation for the Birdseye View on Hatecrime campaign, we got the chance to work with professionals outside of our group. We were liaising with Police Scotland on the campaign, and Rebecca who was an inclusion officer came in often so we could pitch our ideas and get feedback. This was a great experience of fulfilling a creative brief, while we were creatively free to mold the project in any way we saw fit, having a response from Rebecca to change little things made it feel like we were working more to a creative industry standard. We were also lucky enough to work with David Galletly who is a talented local artist. Working with someone who achieves these kinds of creative briefs all the time on a professional level was an important part of the process and really helped us as a group have a better idea of what it is like to work as a creative. This kind of experience is one that I don’t feel like you can get elsewhere, even in school or university as someone with a creative industries degree.
Later in the year I was asked to contribute to an audio book as a voice actor. This is something I feel like I couldn’t have done without the resources from Creative Stirling as well as the confidence I have built from being a part of other projects. Ryan supported me in using the equipment and I was able to deliver my lines to the writer of the project who was impressed with my work. Acting was something I always wanted to do growing up, but I never had the confidence. Through this I was able to have a taste of something I always wanted to try,
We also got some exciting opportunities in the form of workshops. A highlight for me was when we got the chance to make goblin masks, we had an artist come in and help us design our own creatures with sculpting clay, and in the end we had created full characters with so much personality just based on their expressions, their wrinkles and scars. Some made friendly or funny looking Goblins, I opted for a scary one. It was a new form of art I hadn’t tried before, but it made me think about character building and description in a way I hadn’t thought of before and that I carried on into my personal writing and art projects.
All in all, working with Creative Stirling in 2025 was an experience I wouldn’t trade in for anything. It helped me immensely creatively, professionally and it improved my mental health in a very real way. Having a place to go and share ideas, gain experience and learn from so many different kinds of people is an invaluable resource. I can’t wait to keep working in 2026 and getting to see what kinds of amazing things we will work on through the year.
- Ciaran Canavan