Inclusive Network Upskill & Upgrade: Creative Scratch
Part of Digbeth First Friday
Date: Friday 3rd October 2025, 4:30pm-8:00pm
Venue: Centrala, Minerva Works, 158 Fazeley Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 5RT
RSVP – Register Here
We’re really excited to invite you to Inc Net’s first ever Creative Scratch as part of Digbeth First Friday. A platform created exclusively for Inclusive Network members across the West Midlands to share new work, test ideas, and connect with audiences in an open, supportive space.
This Scratch features creatives Vicky Roden, Dee Manning, Sandrya Mclean, Ryan Sinclair, and Keisha Grant presenting sessions that explore wellbeing, creative skill-building, identity, activism, and interactive practice.
It’s a space for curiosity, connection, and experimentation. Whether you join in, watch, or share your reflections, you’ll play a part in shaping the work as it develops.
After the Scratch, stick around for networking, conversation, and a drink, then head out to enjoy everything Digbeth First Friday has to offer.
4:30pm-5:30pm: Kokoro Kara Oke (KKO)
Hosted by: Vicky Roden
Vicky Roden
I’m a Midlands based artist with a multidisciplinary practice that has a foundation in research. Much of my work begins in obscure legend and found objects, being particularly drawn to the stories objects have had before they meet us and the embellishments we add to both the item and the tales around it. Much of my practice looks at that which we memorialise and remember, and I seek to foster an element of joyousness and celebration in everything I make. My socially engaged practice utilises a variety of media including textiles, embroidery, silversmithing and live art. I work through ideas by making, and choose materials and media according to the needs of the project. Primarily focussing on the sinister and archaic, much of my work explores death, ritual, and points where women have historically found personal power and agency. Previous projects have seen me throwing cake around for Vivid Projects (Down The Cakehole), encouraging audiences to ‘Splat The Rat’ to win Wednesbury themed tourist tat for Multistory (Tat’N’Tranklements at Wednesbury Day) and waxing lyrical about the Black Country Dialect for Wolverhampton Art Culture.
Info: Workshop - Kokoro Kara Oke (KKO)
Based on a ropey google translation of ‘wholehearted’ and the joyous public singing of Karaoke, KKO is a celebration of the half remembered, out of tune but completely joyous songs we sing acapella and unashamed.
It could be a folk song. It could be a Sabbath classic. It could be a cheesy pop tune. Music is one of the fundamental things that connects us as a species, and this workshop gives us all an opportunity to talk about the songs we love and the stories around them before sharing the joy and camaraderie of singing these together (with zero expectation of getting it right).
All you need to bring to this workshop is yourself and a song you want to share. And if you’re shy, don’t worry! I’ll be on hand to blast out the vocals and everyone is welcome to join in.
4:30pm-5:30pm: Nourishing Minds and Body Coaching
Hosted by: Dee Manning, Founder of Dee.M Creatives
Dee Manning
Dee Manning is an HSJ award-winning consultant with expertise in cultural production, community development, health, and placemaking. Her work highlights the transformative power of arts and culture in enhancing lives and empowering individuals, promoting well-being, and fostering holistic community development. She is the founder of Roots To Wellness CIC, which offers a personalised support system to assist individuals in navigating life with chronic and long-term health conditions. This comprehensive roadmap provides resources to effectively manage these conditions and enhance overall well-being.
Info: Unwind and Recharge: Nourishing Minds and Bodies Relaxation Coaching Session
Are you ready to take a break from the hustle and invest in your well-being? Our Nourishing Minds and Bodies Relaxation Coaching Session offers a safe, inclusive space to relax, reflect, and connect.
Led by an experienced coach who understands the challenges of a health condition and everyday stress, this session is an invitation for anyone seeking a moment to pause, recharge, and find their voice.
Come to this session with an open heart and mind.
Join us and discover how a little support can make a big difference.
4:30pm-5:30pm: Mindful Drawing for the Anxious Mind
Hosted by: Sandrya Mclean, Created in Solitude
Sandrya McLean
Sandrya Mclean is an accidental artist who creates intricate, intuitive drawings that feel like meditations on paper. Each piece is drawn entirely by hand, line by line, with no pre-planned outcome - a process as calming to witness as it is to create. Her practice grew out of a personal journey of healing and has since evolved into a way of helping others find stillness, grounding, and creative confidence through mindful drawing.
Info: Mindful Drawing for the Anxious Mind
Experience the joy of creating without judgement in a calm, welcoming space. No experience needed. Perfect for overthinkers, perfectionists, or anyone who’s ever said, "I can’t draw."
Through accessible, mindful drawing techniques, this session offers a way to reduce stress, feel more grounded, and regulate your nervous system.
From the shimmer of metallic ink against a black background to the gentle drag of a paint pen on textured paper, each stroke invites you into a rhythm that calms the mind and anchors the body. Turning the act of drawing into a grounding, meditative experience.
Discover a powerful way to shift your mindset, ease creative anxiety, and build a skill you can return to for personal wellbeing or future art-making.
5:45pm-6:30pm: ‘No Photos Please’
Hosted by: Ryan Sinclair
Ryan Sinclair
Ryan Sinclair is a spoken word poet, self-published author, founder of Empower Poetry and Playwrite from Birmingham. He has worked with organisations such as we don’t settle, Arts Council England, Apples&Snakes and BBC Words First. Ryan has performed in national and international locations such as Birmingham Town Hall, Boxpark Wembley, da poetry lounge, apache Café and with Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games festival.
Info: ‘No Photos Please - in development on-man piece blending spoken word, comedy and storytelling
The show explores themes of memory, masculinity, social anxiety and the digital age through a poetic lens, reflecting on the pressures of being constantly “seen” in a world shaped by screen time and social media. Developed from real-life experiences, it’s heartfelt, lyrical, and rooted in Black British identity, with a comedic touch and emotional depth.
This is for audiences who are interested in contemporary fusions of different genres of performance and have an interest in interactive and rhythmic performances. Each scratch and full performance of this show is intended to differ slightly from one another based on audience size, interaction and setting. Which is why those interested in the above mediums, will receive a unique experience.
6:45pm-7:45pm: ‘Dancin’ On Extreme’
Hosted by: Keisha Grant, Artistic Director of Keneish Dance
Born in Birmingham, UK, to Jamaican parents, Keisha began her dance classes at the age of 3 in ballet, tap dance and jazz at her local dancing school. After her professional training at Laban Centre and Roehampton University, Keisha toured internationally as a dancer across Europe, South Africa and Canada with ACE Dance and Music, Tavaziva Dance and State Of Emergency. Keisha is a qualified yoga instructor with an interest in how creativity and embodied awareness can support healing trauma. Under her leadership, Keneish Dances commissions have included those from Jazz Musician Bill Laurence, Sheffield Oratorio Chorus, City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Birmingham Museums - Think Tank Science Museum, Sandwell Museums, Warwick University, Arts Council England and Laban Guild International. Keisha’s work is interdisciplinary, rooted in emotions and human experience, personal and shared narratives from the diaspora using dance.
Info: Interactive Workshop and Discussion - based on Keneish Dance current work in progress 'Dancin’ On Extreme'
Triggered by a haunted house and Antarctica, this work rejects the status quo and probes our experience of boundaries, extremes and adventure. Challenges who should be where and doing what. So far, Dancin’ on Extreme R&D has included working with We Two Foundation which was founded by the first Black Briton to Walk the North pole. This is an open accessible experience using movement modality and expressive freedom. Inviting the curious, creative and adventurous. No experience in dance or movement needed.
Not an Inclusive Network member yet? Register here to join Inclusive Network.