April 2020

Join our Happiness Project!

happiness project

Photography and creative ideas for lockdown…

At the time of writing the UK is in lockdown for the foreseeable future. We are in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic, and life as we know it has changed beyond recognition over the last few weeks.

At the moment all our photography studios are temporarily closed. We are following government directives in order to do all that we can to protect the health of our staff and customers at this very difficult time. But we will be back as soon as we are able, and want to stay in touch with everyone in the meantime.

So we have started our very own Venture Studios Happiness Project. Despite all the bad things that are happening, we want to play our part in bringing a little happiness into peoples’ lives.

You can see what we’re doing so far at our Happiness Project page here. Do keep checking back because we are updating this page regularly, including adding more activities and opportunities for you to be involved.

Our Happiness Project includes contributions from many members of the creative Venture Studios family. We have put together an exciting variety of activities, tasks and competitions that you can easily do at home, either as individuals or as families with children of all ages. Activities that will help you to stay focused and occupied, and also develop your creative and photography skills.

Here are some of the things you can get involved with so far in our Happiness Project:

Get Creative

Some people find it difficult to unleash their creativity during difficult times, but spending time being creative can help you to deal more effectively with stress. So why not have a go at one or more of our ideas, either alone or with the family.

Exercise

Exercise is always a good start. Time to blow the cobwebs out and get set up for a productive day. There are many different kinds of exercise that you can do at home. If you have any kind of gym equipment or weights, then now is the time to put those to good use. Or if you have a reasonable-sized garden then you could mark out a mini walking or running track. Younger children will enjoy home-made circuits with challenges such as skipping, throwing/catching, hoopla and obstacles.

Also check the huge variety of exercise classes and workouts online. For example Joe Wicks has a fantastic daily PE lesson for children streamed live on Youtube.

Home schooling

Most children are now being home-schooled, and your child’s school should be providing activities for children to do so that they can keep up with learning. We’ve also found a few great online resources to help with this : click here for ideas.

Daily cooking

Baking is enjoying a resurgence of popularity during this time. If baking is something that you wish you had more time for, whether on your own or with the family, then now is a good opportunity to give it a try. The same applies to cooking. Cooking good wholesome food from scratch often falls by the wayside when we are frantically busy and trying to juggle too much. So why not try out some new things during this time, and perhaps get the children involved as well?

Daily activities

It can be tempting to fall back on using screens for entertainment and information, and they can certainly be invaluable throughout these days. We will post details of good online resources here over the next few weeks. But also don’t forget more traditional pastimes such as reading, writing, drawing, colouring, painting, music, sewing, knitting, board games and jigsaws – to name but a few. There are so many things that you can do – either on your own or with others – that do not depend on technology and will bring enjoyment and satisfaction.

Photography challenges

Of course, one of the activities you could do – and that we are passionate about here at Venture Studios – is photography. So we are creating a special series of twelve photography challenges for you.
Our photography challenges are fun, and can either be done individually or with children of all ages. Each challenge includes professional photography tips from our Creative Director Alicia Hall. So as well as being fun, they will also develop your photography and creative skills.

What’s more, there are opportunities to win spot prizes as well as major prizes for each challenge. There will also be an overall winner at the end of the whole challenge period.

You can join in as many of our challenges as you like, and start whenever you like. The entry forms will remain open for the duration of the challenges. You can enter the challenges here.

For each challenge there are four things to do:

  • Download the challenge PDF
  • Read Alicia’s Top Tips
  • Take your photo
  • Upload your photo

4 steps 3

All of us at Venture Studios send our best wishes to you and your family at this difficult time. We hope that you stay safe and well.

We look forward to meeting you at your local Venture Studios once we are open again. Meanwhile, do check back here soon for more photography and creative tips from Venture Studios.