Banwell Pottery is a community-based employment and training project. We offer people with learning disabilities and autism the opportunity to get experience and develop skills in a supportive and safe environment. It’s also a fun place where our potters can express themselves and get creative. Whatever your level of need, we can support you to learn new job skills in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere.
Our potters learn about the whole process of creating products to sell, from design through production, painting, and finishing. They learn the trade in a professional setting and can focus their learning based on their skills and what they enjoy. We can even support people on an individual basis to develop and sell their own arts and crafts.
In the future, we’re planning to run a number of different sessions to suit different needs. We hope to be able to pay some potters to work in the studio, while others will continue to receive training, and of course, we’ll still run fun sessions where potters are free to express themselves through their own work.
As well as learning the practical skills of creating ceramics and other design products, our potters also gain the transferable skills needed for any job such as teamwork, customer service, health and safety, and timekeeping.
Our potters thrive in the friendly environment, gaining confidence as they master the trade and see their pottery being sold. Many people build friendships, improve communication and social skills, and reduce their social isolation by coming to Banwell Pottery.
All our staff are fully qualified, DBS checked, and passionate about what they do. In addition, the staff team hold qualifications in ceramics, illustration, graphic design, teaching, counselling, and health and social care, and all staff have professional experience of producing and selling their own work.
Values
At Banwell Pottery we believe that people with learning disabilities and autism should be free to live the lives they choose. For this reason, it’s really important to us that our potters enjoy everything they do in the studio.
It’s also really important that everything we produce is the work of our potters, from the design to the finishing touches, and that the finished products are of the highest quality.
We’re committed to equal opportunities and inclusion, and our community-based project is testament to that. We aim to equip our potters with skills and experience to prepare them for paid employment.
If you’d like to find out more about placements at Banwell Pottery, please phone or email us.
Supported employment
In April 2017, we took on our first supported employees. In this short video we say hello to them and find out a bit about their creative process.
