As a creative bunch of people, we’re pretty good at rolling with the punches at Garvald. Still, when Orwell Arts workshops returned from the Easter holidays to find that there was no lift access or running water, it took some quick and crafty thinking to keep our workshops open.

Thankfully, we’ve got our community of Garvald buildings. Waterside workshops warmly welcomed our Weavers, who stepped away from their looms to focus on knitting and crochet projects. The Media team shipped out to Gorgie workshops and focused on reporting work (including the writing of this article), photography trips to Saughton Park, and Easter egg rolling celebrations in the Gorgie courtyard!

Meanwhile, the potters, painters, kitchen and glass workshops all set up camp at the Phoenix Centre, the newest of Garvald’s buildings. In the scheme of things, this was exceptional timing, as the building has only been open for a few months. The weather has also been on our side, allowing workshops at the Phoenix Centre to get stuck into a variety of gardening jobs, eat lunch together outside, and even take art supplies out to the canal for drawing trips.