The project

Based in Edinburgh Palette, the studio provides a space for young people aged 14 to 24 to grow their creative potential, confidence, and connections in an Art and Design studio.

It is an inclusive, inspiring, fun space where young people can express themselves through drawing and painting, sculpting, music making, animation, crafting and filmmaking, or even picking up a paintbrush for the first time.

The young people who come to Creative Natives come from various socio-economic backgrounds. All of them have different stories to tell and varied life experiences. The team at Creative Natives encourages and nurtures their creative ideas and offers guidance and support to ensure that young people attain the most out of their experience and move on to a positive destination.

History

Creative Native began its life as Digital Creatives in 2014. Initially designed as a project aimed at young care leavers living in often very chaotic circumstances with multiple barriers to moving onto independence and becoming contributors, the project grew and evolved to work with a much broader group of young people from across Edinburgh.

In 2018, recognising that the young people we were working with had complex needs, we invited Cyrenians to become partners due to their experience supporting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Ownership of the project is passed to Cyrenians

In September 2024, the project passed into the safe hands of Cyrenians. This is a natural progression for the project. While it remains close to our hearts at Community Enterprise, we believe that the Cyrenians team have the skills to work with the increasingly complex needs of the young people who use Creative Natives. In line with taking a Public Health Approach to Homelessness Prevention, Cyrenians will concentrate on preventative and early intervention work with people at risk of homelessness. Their focus will be on skilled key workers supporting young people in being creative in a person-centred, trauma-informed way.

You can read more about the legacy of the project here.