We’re on the final year-in-review recap, and then we can start looking forward to 2026! The latter months of 2025 were filled with visitors and festive workshops.
25th September- Art in the Docks visit
Art For Fun was delighted to host Art in the Docks for a workshop. Thanks to grants like People Powered Places and to our work with their artists, Colin and Robert, we’ve built a strong connection with the artists and founders who run the space.
Who are Art in the Docks?
Art in the Docks is an artist-led social enterprise (CIC) that works in the community to give Newham residents greater access to the arts! They have three goals:
- Signposting people to careers within the creative industries
- Improving the community’s access to arts and cultural enrichment
- help with mental health through art therapy
Looking at those goals, you can see they’re well aligned with Art For Fun’s own values and approaches to art and cultural enrichment. You can read more about what they do and upcoming events here.
What we did
Art For Fun were visiting us alongside East London Heritage for a video project, about Newham specifically, residents’ memories and how the place has changed.
During the visit, we were treated to a PowerPoint presentation that focused on how business has changed and impacted Newham, how the Docks have evolved, and how the local areas have changed. Participants mentioned tragic events such as the Silvertown explosion in 1917 and the 1899 Silvertown strike, noting that they were relatives of victims or had seen the recent play about the strike.
There were various photos of the area: some people doing everyday activities, such as going to the park or a bingo hall; others showing people dealing with flooding; and still others showing street parties. One striking one was a beached whale near Woolwich. Participants could either use the photos as references for their drawings or they could draw their own memories of Newham.
These photos would be used in an exhibition.
2nd October-6th November Commonplace book project with UCL Special Collections
The visit from Art In the Dock and East London Heritage was lovely, it was great to learn about the area most of us grew up in!
After that, we began creating our Commonplace books with UCL Special Collections. On the 2nd of October, this started with another trip to UCL. I volunteered to stay at our typical venue in case anyone didn’t feel up to the trip. It was rather quiet at St. Mark’s, but participants who went on the trip enjoyed it!
The next visit from UCL wasn’t a trip; Chelsie and Janine came to us. It’s always exciting to have visitors to Art For Fun. We held an icebreaker and then discussed what we’d be focusing on in our commonplace books. Sometimes it would be plants or fashion. No matter the subject, we would have various supplies out on the tables and some colouring sheets as well.
This was the structure of the UCL Special Collections workshops throughout the six-week project. Except for the last workshop, where we made a slight change to the structure.
On the last day of working with UCL, not only did the group finish creating unique, personal and creative Commonplace books, but everyone received a certificate for completing the project, which was given out in a simple ceremony where the recipient’s name would be called out, and they’d be given it in the middle of the room and cheered.
It was a simple moment, but it celebrated our participants’ success and highlighted how far they’d come in our collaboration with UCL special collections.
Janine and Chelsie brought extra food for us during the last Commonplace book workshop, which added to the celebratory atmosphere. Although we are still sad to say goodbye to Chelsie and Janine, over the six-week period, we loved having them with us, sharing our stories, and learning about Commonplace books. We look forward to working with them again!
Art For Fun had an absolute blast with this project, and this opportunity wouldn’t have happened if UCL Special Collections hadn’t reached out. Once again, we’d like to thank the UCL Special Collections, especially Vicky, Anna, Janine and Chelsie for inviting us to campus and for working with us. We loved working with you!
Click here to view the reel from our last workshop on the Commonplace book project. And click here to read about the previous trip to see the Special Collections team on site!
20th November- Christmas Wreaths
After undertaking such an important collaboration, you’d assume that we’d have some quiet weeks. Luckily for us, that isn’t how it works at Art For Fun!
Throughout the run-up to the Christmas period, we welcomed back many familiar faces to Art For Fun; the first of these Christmas-based workshops was led by Robert and Colin.
For this workshop, we were working on creating our own Christmas Wreaths. We had a variety of materials available, including coloured and sparkly paper, to create our festive designs.
Click here to view more photos and videos about the workshop.
27th November- Disability History Month workshop
East London Heritage returned to host a workshop during Disability Month, focusing on Disability History. Because of Newham’s proximity to the Olympics and Paralympics (the Stadium is in Stratford), that was explored. They also mentioned the Remploy programme and how that was cut by Margaret Thatcher and her government in the 80’s.
We had various pictures of Newham and of important issues related to disability rights and daily living scattered on tables (yes, the beached whale photo did make a reappearance).
As a disabled person, it was encouraging to see Art For Fun host a workshop focused on the community I belong to. Especially during a time where disability rights seemed to be rolled back left, right and centre.
I don’t have any photos to share of this workshop. However, I can share some links for you to explore the history and artworks of artists with disabilities, or those who used their disabilities to inspire their work, as a treat!
Disabled Artists you might like to know more about!
Frida Kahlo– When you think of famous artists with disabilities, Frida Kahlo is the first artist that pops into your head. Known for her portraits, being inspired by Mexican nature and uses her disability and chronic pain as inspiration. Frida’s work has often been described with two terms, either surrealist or magical realist- the thing with art, whether it’s music or poetry or a painting, it can’t (nor should it) be contained to one box. If you’re in the UK, Tate Modern will have an exhibition on Frida Kahlo from 25th June to 3rd January 2027.
Yinka Shonibare CBE– Yinka Shonibare is a contemporary artist who examines class and race in his art. Often questioning how globalisation and colonialism have impacted those identities and the world. Shonibare works in painting, sculpture, photography, and film, with Dutch Wax being one of his preferred mediums. Most recently, his work is on view at Foundation H in an exhibition called HybriditĂ©s/Hybridities until February 28th 2026.
Keisuke Ishino– Ishino is a self-taught artist. He creates 3D paper models inspired by Japanese anime and gaming. His work was featured in the 2025 exhibition Avant Gardes? Yes we are! Based in the Borderless Art Museum NO-MA in Japan.
If you want to find more areas of the art community that focus on disability in the UK Shape Arts, the Jennifer Lauren Gallery and Together!2012 are good starting points.
4th December- 18th Christmas Workshops
After the visit from East London Heritage, we were in Christmas mode, as our next workshop was in early December. For our first workshop of the festive month, one of our volunteers volunteered to lead a session.
4th- Christmas Card Workshop
Brenda, our queen of making wonderful handmade cards, wanted to show us how to make our own Christmas cards in time for the holidays.
Brenda’s belief when it comes to handmade cards (and art in general) is,
“No such thing as rubbish with card making. Anything goes! Make it what you want.”
During this session, we learned how to apply colourful backgrounds to our cards and lettering, and how to layer special Christmas touches to our designs, such as gingerbread men and snowflakes.
Thank you, Brenda, for leading this session for us! We look forward to the next one. Also, thank you for all the beautiful, one-of-a-kind cards you create for our group!
13th- Fabric Christmas Decorations
After the wonderful workshop led by Brenda, Zoe made a welcome return. For this workshop, we made Christmas decorations from fabric.
You can view our post here, which also features all our other 2025 Christmas workshops!
18th- Handmade Christmas Trees and Party
Our last workshop of the year was on the 18th December 2025, and our favourite duo, Robert and Colin, led the session! That week, they taught us how to make mini Christmas trees out of card and supported by small wooden sticks.
Not only did Robert and Colin lead the session, but we also decided to host a small Christmas party. We asked everyone to bring in party food, and we’d supply the biscuits and hot drinks. Everyone brought something to eat or a soft drink, so we had a huge assortment to choose from.
Participants and volunteers had a delightful time; it was a great way for Art For Fun to end the year!
As it’s the last review of the year, Art For Fun would like to take a moment to thank our brilliant, hardworking volunteers for all they’ve done in 2025. We’re also extremely grateful to our external collaborators and workshop leads, and to Sue for leading us and working with us to keep Art For Fun the vibrant, welcoming, and inclusive group it is.
For the next blog (which will be uploaded this week), we will be going into 2026 and talking about all the new arts and crafts we got up to in January!
Until then, why don’t you read some of our previous blog posts? Or why not check out our Instagram? We’ve got some cool reels for you to see and more photos of our workshops!
Art For Fun 