About | Create CIC | Camborne Contemporary Crafts Hub

Founder Director

Jane Smith

ceramics and glass artist

project developer - educator - facilitator

Jane is an award winning glass and ceramics artist who has a passion for the materials she uses. Her passion for clay was sparked when she learnt to throw, aged 10, at the Midlands Arts Centre. She has been invited to exhibit at the Penwith Gallery, Galeri Caernarfon and Breeze, and has produced many public and private commissions.

Her work draws on the human form and the land and seascapes of Cornwall.

She has taught for over 30 years with social services, in schools, colleges and adult education and has established glass and ceramics facilities for a number of eduacational institutions as well as privately. She also founded Green Bottle Company in 2009 which produces recycled glass bottle gifts and products.

Founder Director

Angela Hatherell

project manager - architectural designer

arts manager - researcher

Angela trained as an architect and has worked in practice, research and education. She has worked on built environment projects from feasibility and brief development to post occupancy evaluation, specialising in client relations, project management and advocacy. She also has extensive arts management experience, having worked in the film industry and run a number of events including the Oxford Human Rights Festival and Celebrating Syria: a festival of arts and culture.

Non-executive Director

Tonia Lu

creative business advisor - printmaker

Having spent many years as a creative business advisor for Cultivator, providing advice on the creative industries in Cornwall and linking to networking and fundraising opportunities, and the Director of Creative Enterprise at Creative Kernow, Tonia is now the interim Director of Creative Kernow. She is also a member of Camborne Town Deal Board and an artist printmaker.

Non-executive Director

Andrew Harbert

architect - academic - facilities manager

Andrew trained as an architect and his work in practice focussed on people, place and dialogue. He has taught on Architecture, Landscape and Interiors courses at Higher Education, and was Head of Academic Planning at Falmouth University, building strategic links with Further Education Colleges and developing new courses. He currently is Technical and Facilities Manager at Falmouth University, and leads the technical team delivering technical skills to students and courses across the university.

Glass Tutor

Helen Eastham

glass artist - occupational therapist

Helen is a successful artist working in glass and a qualified and experienced occupational therapist. Her glass work is an expression of her emotions and connections to people and places. As an occupational therapist she was acutely aware of the intrinsic value of participation in creative practices to aid good mental and physical health and wellbeing. She is keen to combine her artist practice and occupational therapy values to enable individuals and communities the opportunity to engage in the arts.

Jewellery Tutor and Children's Lead

Sally Caslake

jeweller - teacher

Sally is a jeweller, maths teacher and keeper of geese. She has been teaching in secondary schools since 2004 and began her jewellery journey in 2016 when she took up silversmithing, finding her passion for silver clay a year later. Sally also works in glass and her expertise is in creating lampwork beads (and mushrooms). Discovering the crossover between silver clay and ceramics, she is now exploring her skills and linking her experience in education with pottery to develop our children's and young people's programme.

Ceramics and Glass Technician

Flora Forshall

artist - technician

Flora is a printmaker and ceramics artist based in Falmouth. She specialises in creating limited edition screen prints and lino prints inspired by the shapes, colours and patterns found in the natural world.
By working at Create CIC she has gained an understanding of how glass and ceramics can work individually and together.

Glass Tutor and Technician

Zanna Pill

artist

Zanna is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Penzance. She exhausts herself daily with the observations of life the universe and everything BUT… therein lies her inspiration.
It is hard to characterise the way she works or how to facilitate the next ‘what would happen if’.… she is inspired by the process. The process always leads the way. She rarely works with preconceived ideas of what she's going to ‘make’, it grows from experimenting and pushing materials in all directions.

She brings a creative oomph to Create's social media and runs courses and workshops in glass.

Facilities and Social Media

Phil Prowse

media technician - photographer

Phil joined the team after volunteering with us. He manages the social media and ensures the smooth running of the building. A keen photographer, he also volunteers at Morrab Library in Penzance in their Photo Archive and previously helped develop the Green Bottle Company.

Ceramics Tutor

Hugh Hobson

ceramicist - lecturer

Hugh trained at both Lincoln and Chesterfield Colleges of Art and Design. He established a studio in the area producing domestic thrown salt glaze before starting a craft co-operative multi discipline workshop and exhibition space to set up a more diverse and creative working environment.

He retained and worked as a lecturer in various subjects in Further Education until retiring to Cornwall where he could follow the passions of ceramics, sailing and Citroen 2CV restoration.

Volunteer

Val Kelynack

retired teacher

Val started her pottery journey while living in London in the 1980s and has always been interested in crafts. She was very excited when she heard that a contemporary crafts hub was opening in Camborne, the town she has made home for the past forty years. She thought it would be great for the town and a project worth supporting as it brings creativity, skills and mental wellbeing to the community.

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Volunteer

Steve Fowler

retired social worker - potter

Steve came to Cornwall in 1979 with his wife and two young children. He worked for Cornwall Council as a social worker for over thirty years and was lead commissioner for children with disabilities. He has always been involved in voluntary organisations and conscious of the importance of community.

He has always been interested in making and took up pottery when he retired as he says he can't draw!

As a long time resident of Camborne he was attracted to Create CIC as it's community focused and he likes the vibe.

Steve has taken on the mammoth task of sorting, cataloging and repairing the slide collection which was donated to Create CIC and forms the centre of the community crafts library. He says he enjoys it because it's "Nerdy, creative and interesting!"

Volunteer

Sharon Rice

social worker

Sharon enjoys supporting colleagues and students in the pottery, as well as advising on the running of the crafts hub and assisting with building maintenance. She thinks it is important for the community to get involved to ensure that Create CIC continues to operate for many years. An enthusiastic ceramicist, she thinks this is a valuable resource for Camborne, with creativity contributing to everyone's mental wellbeing.

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Advisory Panel Member

John Cosgrove

teacher

Providing advice and guidance on education and learning, and engaging with local primary and secondary schools. John is a retired headteacher and has published several books and papers on teaching and learning. He is also a member of Camborne Town Deal Board and a Town Councillor.

Advisory Panel Member

Rosi Jolly

social - artist

Rosi is a community artist and social activist who has worked with (predominantly) families and young people for over 15 years.

Her practice centres around sustainability, social justice and community engagement, and includes public art installations, festival organisation and nature engagement.

Advisory Panel Member

Rose Goodship

consultant - producer

Rose focuses on cultivating diverse, inclusive and innovative creative, cultural, and community projects. With a background in performance and music, she guides a spectrum of cultural businesses and providers. Rose champions the development of creative industries through her projects, emphasizing the application of emerging technologies such as immersive experiences and live streaming. Actively contributing to the Camborne town deal board and aiding the Basset Community Hub development, Rose remains dedicated to fostering dynamic and inclusive creative initiatives in Camborne and Cornwall.

Advisory Panel Member

Denise Williams

social and charity worker

With a background of working in the education sector with young excluded students, Denise has a passion for inclusion and community. She volunteers with a homeless service and is Chair of Trustees at a local community church.

The Create CIC Story

Create CIC was founded by two creative professionals, Jane Smith and Angela Hatherell, who share a passion for community engagement and accessibility for all through the disciplines of glass, ceramics and jewellery.

In the beginning

In 2020 Jane was approached by Falmouth University to bring life back into some large scale glass equipment following the closure of their Contemporary Crafts courses. Jane had set up the Pottery at The Poly in Falmouth, which also utilised equipment from the university, but The Poly didn't have the space to expand into glass, so Jane teamed up with Angela to set up Create CIC to make the equipment available for creatives across Cornwall. Jane and Angela are both are experienced educators, and this, combined with the diversity of their other skills; Jane's in creating stunning works in glass and ceramics, as well as curating exhibitions and being a creative entrepreneur, and Angela's in architecture and project management, meant they make a great team.

Over the past six years the team has expanded and diversified, however they all share the ethos that creativity should be accessible to anyone, and this principle is behind everything that Create CIC does. They believe that exposure to creativity at all levels can inspire and empower anyone.

In summer 2020 Create CIC was invited by Tonia Lu, Creativity Chair of the Camborne Town Deal, to bring the equipment, and the Create CIC ethos, to Camborne. This beautiful town with a rich industrial and social history has been neglected in recent years. The injection of funding from Central Government through the Town Deal aims to reverse the effects of this neglect and bring a vibrancy to the town, and a bright and positive future for its inhabitants.

Camborne and the transformation of the Donald Thomas Centre building

In June 2021 it was announced that Camborne had been awarded £23.7million to fund eight projects which will revitalise the town, one of which is the Create Contemporary Crafts Hub. The Donald Thomas Centre, an iconic, but underused, Greek Revival building in the town centre, was identified as a home for the hub and over the next year Create CIC will be transforming it into a state of the art community facility and centre of excellence.

In 2021 they undertook a feasibility study, funded by the Architectural Heritage Fund, into the transformation. You can read the full report here. This refurbishment has been phased so the hub can remain operational throughout. Phase one, funded by CLLD, was completed in June 2023. This saw the creation of a new creative co-working space, accessible toilets, and exhibition area, including the amazing Lifeblood community mosaic by local artist Alec Rice. Phase two saw the demolition of the old toilets in summer 2023 and the construction of a new pottery, which opened in September 2024, and phase three, part funded by Shared Prosperity Fund, allowed the installation of green energy solutions, including a solar array on top of the new pottery and an air source heat pump to power the heating in the pottery. In April 2026 phase four was completed and the new state of the art, fully equipped warm glass and jewellery studio opened and in August 2026 the whole project will be finished, with the exterior completed cleaned and renovated, and the construction of a public sculpture garden in front of the building.

The Donald Thomas Centre

We'd love to hear your memories of the building and to build a more detailed picture of its history.

We have produced a viability study funded by the Architectural Heritage Fund.

If you're interested, please download and read.

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CONTACT

Visit us at the Donald Thomas Centre in Camborne, or get in touch by phone or email.

The Create CIC Story

The Donald Thomas Centre

Courses & Workshops

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