The Resilience Programme was a mentoring initiative led by Applied Arts Scotland and Craft Scotland designed to help makers based in Scotland navigate the particularly challenging circumstances resulting from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Resilience Programme was supported by Creative Scotland.

Within the Scottish craft community, there was an enormous amount of collective knowledge and experience. We also recognised that the pandemic had forced makers to be even more innovative, to reinvent their ways of working and rapidly learn new skills.

The Resilience Programme helped makers tap into this collective wisdom to gain new perspectives. In a supportive environment, participants were invited to take time to reflect and develop the resilience required to re-energise, revitalise and sustain their practice.

The programme was suitable for makers who were keen to embrace mentoring and expand its benefits across the craft community. The overall aim of the Resilience Programme was to support and encourage a mentoring culture in the Scottish craft community.

Applied Arts Scotland and Craft Scotland developed resources to support makers in their understanding of the principles of mentoring and how to get the most out of it. We also shared information about other mentoring programmes across Scotland and the UK. These resources were freely available through both partners’ websites for use by the craft community.

The Resilience Programme had two strands: Peer-to-Peer Co-Mentoring and Mentor/Mentee. Makers could choose which mentoring model best supports their needs and make one application to the strand that fitted their needs.

Peer-to-Peer Co-Mentoring

Connecting like-minded makers who are at the same career stage, Peer-to-Peer Co-Mentoring is an accessible, self-directed form of mentoring.

Co-Mentoring helped participants to develop confidence and resilience through identifying their needs and opportunities for skills and information exchange.

The programme matched up to 15 pairs of makers to form mentoring relationships. The pairs were matched based on the priorities highlighted in the application and introductions were facilitated through the first workshop, with 4 to 6 further meetings as a pair.

This activity was voluntary and unpaid, participants were able to make use of free check-in sessions with Applied Arts Scotland and Craft Scotland to answer any questions about the process or to resolve any practical issues. There was no application or participation fee.

Selected participants attendees a workshop in April 2021 that introduced the key principles of co-mentoring. They heard from experienced speakers basketmaker Sarah Paramor and accredited life coach and maker Jenny Pope.

Mentor/Mentee

Designed for makers who were looking to regroup after the disruption of 2020, the Mentor / Mentee Strand offered support in building ambitious future plans through new ways of working and having the time/space for reflection.

Participants developed confidence and resilience in their creative and business practice through both the Mentee Workshops and the Mentor/Mentee Strand. 

This strand invited applications from makers who were interested in being mentored by a craft and/or creative industry professional, and was suitable for makers with at least 2-3 years’ experience in their craft career.  

We also offered two Mentee Workshops in May 2021 to help support prospective applicants in developing their application.

The Mentee Workshops were designed to help participants identify how mentoring can help them achieve their goals. During the workshops, participants worked through the areas in their creative and business practice that they wanted to explore through mentoring. The workshop leaders gave participants the tools to transform their goals into a clear plan of action, and successful participants would then work with their mentor through this plan.