Given the response to our work these last few years we now want to put up to 22 of our Creativity Day Drop Trucks and STEAMsters on the road next year in 2022 and run a few festivals

You can chip in here:

• Pay a pound

• Pledge a pound a month through 2022*

• Pledge more a month*

• Sponsor a Drop Truck*

Read more below about the plan, the story so far and why a Million is the magic number

Check out

Take a look at our Christmas film for our #LetsCreateXmas21 campaign.

And the full Director’s cut below of the film we made with children from Parklands Primary in Leeds and across the UK on our recent #MissionToMars21 UK Tour.

And then read about our appeal to raise a million.

ON A MISSION

Nick Corston FRSA, MEng, MIET, dad and co-founder of STEAM Co. writes…

Almost exactly ten years ago I co-founded STEAM Co. in my sons’ primary with other parnets and creative carers to help connect our kids with their art and our communities with their schools.

Five years ago I gave up my career to roll it out across the country and there ain’t no stopping us now.

After five years of working with school communities right across the UK, we at STEAM Co. are launching a nationwide appeal to raise a million pounds to put 22 of our Pop-Up Creativity Day Drop Trucks and STEAMsters on the road and run a few community art festivals in Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England through to compliment the government’s National Festival of Creativity and Innovation in 2022.

WILL YOU SPARE A POUND?

All I ask is that to show I’m not the only one on this mission, you chip in a quid, a pound.

More if you can afford it.

Chip in here:

• Pay a pound

• Pledge a pound a month through 2022*

• Pledge more a month*

• Sponsor a Drop Truck*

*See free stuff below

It would be amazing if creative carers — organisations or individuals that care about children, creativity and all our futures could offer to match fund a few donations.

A MILLION?

Why not? A dad who as a lad had read every book in the school library and who now makes solar panels, electric cars and rockets shared his dream with me of taking a million people to Mars in 30 years. He’s built and tested the first of a thousand Starships.

Elon Musk inspired our Mission to Mars tour which another dad sponsored who went to space in one of Elon’s rockets.

Whatever you think of him and space travel (and don’t start me on space tourism), you have to admit he does what he says he’s going to do using his foracious appetite for knowledge, his creativity and determination and, while not perfect (who is?) is a brilliant role model for our kids whether they want to go to space or not.

As you can see in the film here, I built a Starship from some scrap metal and a Mars base camp from cardboard to use as a virtual set and hit the road with Mulumba and a green screen TV studio in the back of a camper van

We went from Kent through Yorkshire to County Durham, from Edinburgh to Belfast and down through the Lake District to Liverpool, to a village school in South Wales and home via Oxford, we shared inspiring stories, we created stuff and we launched rockets to inspire our kids to aim higher than high with their art

To shine light in the darkness we set up our disco tree up at a festival in Coventry, next to the moon in Tunbridge Wells outside a Co creation festival in Battersea and in the car park at the V &A in Dundee

A farmer towed our camper van to the top of a hill in Wales where we held a showcase for a local singer

We live streamed outside a kilt shop and next to a community art workshop in Glasgow on the last day of COP26

Today is National Giving Day and we’re launching an appeal to raise £1,000,000 to put 22 of our drop trucks and STEAMSters on the road next year to compliment the government’s National Festival of Creativity and Innovation - Unboxed2022 - which the culture minister briefed us on three years ago as you can see here.

FREE STUFF

STEAM Co. are delighted to be UK Ambassadors and official resellers for the amazing MakeDo cardboard upcycling kits.

The first 100 people to pledge a pound or more to #OurMillion21 via our Patreon above will get a free MakeDo starter kit (delivering end Jan due to stock shortages)

The various Patreon tiers also come with free stuff like #ILOVEART T-shirts and our exclusive #ArtConnects Podcast that will only be available to our supporters so what are you waiting for?

Are you with us?

The story so far

Want to know a bit more before you commit your hard earned, about the STEAM Co. story, who inspired us, why and how, see the film below that was made for us by a dad in my son’s school, Chris Sullivan.

THE PLAN

What are we going to do with the money if, when we get it?

All along we’ve been working to a 3 phase plan, that covid delayed:

• Prove - prove the model can work and the interest is there. Build profile and conenctsions. Done. In spades.

• Trial - prove we can scale this craziness as not everyone wants to work 24:7:364 - To do with this fund Q1 2022 offering free creativity sessions to school communities.

• Scale - to roll it out to every corner of the UK - To do with this fund from Q2 2022

• Ongoing - having given 22 STEAMsters fishing rods, we’ll do all we can to help them fish and feed themselves, with minimal help, though we will be applying for all the grant funding we can get and Arts Council NPO status.

ARE YOU WITH US?

I hope so. For all our futures.

Feel free to email me with any queries on: yourturn@steamco.org.uk

Thanks… Nick Corston FRSA MIET MEng