What is The Workshop?
For those who may not know us, The Workshop is a charity with a clear mission: to transform lives through the arts. We believe creativity has the power to inspire, connect, and change communities – and for the past six years, that’s exactly what we’ve been working to do in King’s Lynn.
How Did We Begin?
The Workshop is the sister company to The Garage Norwich, which was incorporated back in 2002. Having worked with young people in West Norfolk for many years, the idea emerged: what if we opened a pop-up venue in King’s Lynn to support the local community?
We began with something magical – a toddler’s first panto, Little Red Riding Hood. From those early conversations, we developed a programme of classes that launched in January 2020. Of course, that was a challenging time to start something new, with lockdown forcing us to close soon after. But we didn’t stop. We moved our classes online, and by 2021 we were back in person.
As our programme grew, we recruited more staff – local people who knew the town well and brought their own energy to The Workshop. We also began three co‑designed projects with organisations who needed the arts most, partnering with King’s Lynn Academy, Vision Norfolk, and The Purfleet Trust (we’ll be diving deeper into those in an upcoming series!).
It’s safe to say that every day since, we’ve been busy growing, creating, and celebrating together.
Six Years, Six Posts
To mark the milestone of opening in 2019, we’ve shared a special six‑part series on social media:
- Six years opening
- Six events we’ll never forget
- Six people who shaped us
- Six words that describe us
- Six moments we’re proud of
- Six dreams for the future
Each post dives into the highlights, the people, and the spirit that make The Workshop what it is today.
👉 Head over to our channels @theworkshopkl to explore the full series, relive the memories, and share your favourite moments with us.
Looking Ahead
Six years have flown by, and we’re so proud of what we’ve achieved together. But this is just the beginning. Thank you to everyone who has believed in our work, joined our classes, supported our events, and shared in our journey. We’ve had an unbelievable six years – and we have a feeling the future will be an even greater milestone.