I have been thinking about setting up a CIC for a few years now. My work has always been creative, cultural and community and education based, and I knew I wanted to continue this in a way that worked for me.
I have four year old twins. They start school in September. When I used to think about children, I always saw myself as a working Mum. My Mum always worked. She has a good career, which she enjoys and as children we benefitted from her working. I always imagined I would parent in the same way. The last four years, however, have not been as I imagined. Firstly, I had twins. That’s double the parenting and double the childcare costs all at once. They were also born eleven weeks early and they needed so much of my time in hospital and when we brought them home. Then, just as I thought I could start thinking about my career again, covid hit, childcare became difficult and work dried up.
On top of this I have always been wary of the idea that society expects mothers (and often fathers) to work like they don’t have children and parent like they don’t have a job. I don’t want this for myself, or my family. My children come first and will always be the most important thing in my life, but they are growing up and starting school, and don’t need me as much as they used to. I want to use my brain and the skills I have been developing for over 20 years now.
So, working for myself is the best option right now, and as so much of my work depends on funding, I have created Yesterday’s Story CIC.
I have danced since I was three, I love going to the theatre, I have worked in arts development roles and education roles in theatres and venues. I enjoy my work and I get a real buzz from seeing the positive effect it has on people’s lives. When I started thinking about the type of work I wanted to create it felt too big. I was thinking of projects that would appeal to everyone and cover all art forms. It felt very unmanageable and I did for some time give up on the idea. Then, once we started applying for school places for my boys, I started to think about what I wanted to do next and I thought about the projects I had most enjoyed in the past. The projects that were most fun and had a big impact on the participants. It was the heritage projects.
So here we are. Yesterday’s Story CIC has just begun and I hope I have some exciting projects to share with everyone soon.
