Meet our Partners: Writing on the Wall

It’s time to meet our partners! Each month, we will be bringing you a new partner profile, giving you the opportunity to say hello to our team and find out about their involvement in Directions.

First up, say a big hello to Writing on the Wall – a writing and literature organisation based in Liverpool. The organisation will support people in developing the confidence and skills they need to take their next steps into education or their career.

Writing on the Wall team

Tell us about your organisation?

Writing on the Wall is a Liverpool based organisation which celebrates writing in all its forms through year-round writing development projects and an annual month-long writing festival, which focuses on underrepresented voices, radical writing, and community. We see first-hand the transformative impact writing can have on us and we focus on working within the community to share our stories, make sense of the world around us, improve confidence, upskill and promote creativity.

Why did you become involved in Directions?

We chose to partner with the Directions project because we have a shared goal, in supporting people to develop the confidence and skills they need to take their next steps into education or the job they want. Writing, and writing well, is fast becoming the number one skill for the workplace and beyond, with the rise of social media and online content creating lots of jobs we haven’t seen before. At WoW we see the huge impact the arts and culture industry has on our city and wanted to support pathways into the industry through Write to Work. The Directions initiative really understands this, seeing creativity, as key to personal growth and upskilling rather than as an add on or ‘something nice to do’.

Like us, Directions knows the importance on being able to offer participant led projects like Write to Work, as it is directly supporting people to build their self-esteem, build communities and through their own hard work, create a legacy for the Liverpool city region.

Tell us about the activities you will be running with Directions

In partnerships with Direction, WoW will be running a free 12-week writing development course with creativity at its heart. At WoW we know that writing is fundamental to effective communication and in an ever-changing employment landscape that makes writing the number one skill. The course is led by published writers and industry professionals and supports learners to explore an exciting range of writing skills, developing their confidence to get the job they want and explore further education or vocational training.

In response to lockdown, WoW has created an exciting programme for Write to Work, delivered entirely online through video conferencing. Write to Work online includes writing workshops with published writers, covering Copywriting to Scriptwriting and specialist workshops on journalism to writing for children. WoW will also be offering one-to-one mentoring and participants will contribute their own writing to an anthology, which will be published and available to buy in Waterstones and News for Nowhere.  

Write to Work runs multiple times through the year and will be delivered for a further 3 years.

Do you have any events coming up?

To keep up to date with what we are doing, check out our website 

https://writingonthewall.org.uk/wowfest/events/

How do we get in contact with you?

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/writingonthewall.liverpool/

Instagram: wow_fest

Website: https://www.writingonthewall.org.uk/

Email: info@writingonthewall.org.uk

About Directions:

Directions is a specifically designed and fully integrated programme of support which will improve the employability of over 2,000 local residents from Liverpool City Region who are currently not in work. 

About European Social Fund:

Directions is receiving funding from the European Social Fund as part of the 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme in England. The Department for Work and Pensions (and in London the intermediate body Greater London Authority) is the Managing Authority for the England European Social Fund programme. Established by the European Union, the European Social Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support skills development, employment and job creation, social inclusion and local community regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding