Hi, my name is Isobel and I started at Magic Me in January 2023. Ever since being in Magic Me’s traineeship I’ve gotten to meet so many beautiful people with lovely and happy personalities.
Working with the team, the Project Manager, participants, artists and two other trainees has made a huge difference in my life. They have helped me make a positive difference in my social anxiety as well as my confidence. They have given me happiness in my gloomy days, professional experience and a chance to develop new skills within the Arts industry, which before I had struggled to progress with, in my career.
Our project and theme was about ‘Searching for Community’; Connecting adults aged 18-80+ through drama and photography, the idea of this project was to show what was missing in the community on 3 wooden chairs with each one being unique and different. Artists Sue Mayo and Anita McKenzie, who I worked closely with, gave the participants a task to create collages on an idea of what was missing to them. Taking part in the workshops and supporting them with this was such a great experience because not only did I learn from the workshops but I also enjoyed them, they brought some great friendships and conversations I will never forget.
From this traineeship experience I’ve learned about admin; for example I had to use Excel to create registers and a quotes and a feedback spreadsheet to help document the project. I also started to use Adobe Express to create the ‘Searching for Community’ final event flyer, which was challenging at first because I hadn’t used it before until then. I learned about logistics and how to send professional emails, gather different refreshments and materials. Lastly, I learned how to set up and deliver a big final event for our project.
After completing the project and final exhibition event, I felt so proud and happy knowing that we as a team, and as trainees, accomplished, supported and became a part of such an honourable project like Magic Me’s previous ones. Being behind the scenes has given me an insight into how much work goes into one project and what Magic Me’s values are, which I respect because there aren’t many organisations that care as much as this one.
