Transformation Station for Thrive

Hi, my name is Sophie, and I'm raising money to support Thrive, the UK's first co-produced festival for people with complex needs and disabilities. Instead of making an existing festival model accessible, Thrive is flipping things inside out, working with disabled people and those with complex needs to understand how best to create an accessible festival, putting them at the heart of the design.

Thrive was dreamt up by one of my closest friends, Freesia, through her work managing a buddying scheme at the charity Sense. Her passionate team meticulously matches young adults with disabilities to volunteer buddies and then facilitates events for them to attend to create meaningful experiences and long-lasting friendships.

The Fortune teller to my Isobella, our friendship was cemented through festival fun and a mutual passion for playfulness through clothes and creativity.

Throughout her career, I have watched as Freesia has tirelessly championed the needs of the vulnerable in society and that passion is infectious. So after growing the buddying scheme and seeing the positive impact the events made on the young people, it made perfect sense to marry some social passions and create a festival. To celebrate the young people and give them the experience that so many of us cherish, something she identified is missing from their lives. Her dream is for this festival to become an annual event – if not THE yearly event within the Disability Community.

I have been lucky enough to establish a career in Costume for TV and Film and an understanding of what purpose can come from dressing people. That purpose is to make people feel good, to project positivity into the world and add to the vibrant tapestry that is individual self-expression.

I believe that we all have the capacity to balance what we love with making the world a better place, so when I had the opportunity to bring the transformation station to the first ever Thrive in 2021 I was delighted to join the team of volunteers.

The transformation station is not just a collection of fun clothes and accessories but an opportunity to collaborate with individuals and go on a journey together to fabulousness, fostering self-expression and experiencing clothing the individual may have never even dreamt of wearing.

This year will be its second edition, and I want to contribute with your help as much as I can to make it even better than the last!

Part of the ethos of the festival is to leave a positive trace. Unfortunately, the area where the transformation station is to be situated is not currently accessible to wheelchairs. Therefore the first goal for this fundraiser is £2800.

This will pay for a ramp to be commissioned, built and installed to make this part of the community centre permanently accessible, a lasting legacy long after the festival has finished.

This year's new addition to the festival will be my bike-powered blender, Brenda, the centrepiece of a smoothie station. Promoting health and wellbeing through organic fruit and vegetable-based beverages and a bicycle for exercise and green energy. We're hoping to make the club Tropicana smoothie station super sensory so that choosing your flavours is accessible and engaging even if riding the bicycle is not for the young person. True accessibility for these young people is lowering the financial barrier to fun, so I want smoothies to be free for everyone.

With this in mind, the next goal will be £750 to create the sensory booth and purchase organic ingredients and sustainable vessels for consuming the delicious and nutritious drinks.

The further £1450 will be used for hiring sensory and sparkly decorations, lighting for tents, commissioning of more free popup activities across the site and as much extra fun as we can pack into one event to give the attendees the most enjoyable experience an accessible festival can offer!