Kay Ridgwell, On Solid Ground
I am Kay and I am a Dance Artist based in Folkestone. I have been teaching dance and performing arts in education and within the community for the past 12 years. I founded On Solid Ground last year with art therapist, Maike Cochrane and community outreach tutor, Chloë Turner. Our company delivers interdisciplinary arts workshops to promote mental well-being through creativity and expression. We did our first pilot project Mother Nurture in February this year as part of the Take Up Space festival. The programme offered a safe space for new mums and their babies to explore feelings, boost creativity and self-esteem through art making, movement and discussion.
SECCADS funded my place on the Quiet Ambition course lead by Ruth Poundwhite, who supports and mentors entrepreneurs and business owners. Her course has given me the confidence to start owning my big dreams and overcoming those stumbling blocks which have been holding me back from achieving my goals. The three week course took me on a journey, where I had the opportunity, through journaling and targeted tasks to unpack old labels and negative thought patterns I have been carrying. This course started a personal journey that has wellbeing at the centre, which has been vital whilst establishing my own wellbeing business. All the members of On Solid ground where then invited to attend The Get-Go programme led by Uday Thakker. The three day intensive course covered; writing business plans, pitching to clients and negation skills. This course has come at a pivotal time for On Solid Ground and has given us the push needed to carefully consider who we are, what we stand for and what we offer.
Find out more about On Solid Ground here:
https://www.onsolidground.co.uk/
https://www.instagram.com/osg_arts/
https://www.facebook.com/OnSolid/
Image credit: Paul Cochrane
