Bob & Berts

Well, it was a busy week for me last week! I have some more work to do yet but I wanted to share why last Monday was different to the rest. This is my third year in a row drawing unique festive scenes across all 7 of Bob & Berts coffee shops in England (many more across the UK) ready for the Christmas season. I had previously applied to offer a work experience opportunity through Discover! Creative Careers Week in association with ScreenSkills . They accepted my offer and put my advert out. I had specifically asked for a neurodivergent student. I wanted to give a student from mainstream what might ordinarily be a missed opportunity. Mainstream neurodivergent students can easily slip through the net and either won't be able to find a placement or they may be allocated one that is unsuitable for their considered career path e.g. working at a fast food restaurant or collecting trollies won't give them anything specific to the creative industry that they want to break into. I am autistic myself and went through the entirety of mainstream education up to degree level. My path to this career has been arduous to say the least, alongside studying for my degree through Covid. I wanted to give someone some work experience that could leave them feeling positive, more confident and have something credible to put on their CV. The student was 19 year old Daniel. I introduced myself to Daniel alongside a member of staff from Blackpool Sixth . I explained to Daniel what a brief was, why it was important and more importantly, why we needed to follow it as directed by the creative team I was working for. I explained that some of what we would be using were stencils, some I have hand-made using Bob and Berts branding as a template. Other parts are free-hand. Daniel had never used acrylic pen before. Using acrylic pens on glass is nothing like using them on any other surface. It doesn't absorb but needs to be spread before it quickly dries. If it dries before you finish it starts to flake and mix in with what you're currently doing. So, it can be tricky to get the hang of. Everything that Daniel drew was kept on - he followed advice and listened by doing things in specific ways or using certain equipment. Daniel was accompanied by staff from college, but they behaved and didn't interfere 😂 So, thank you to Bob and Berts for allowing me to take part in the Discover! Careers Week with Daniel. Between us, Screenskills, Blackpool Sixth and Daniel's family - we were able to offer Daniel something that he could learn a lot from and was probably quite unique. I'm happy he can add this experience to his CV alongside the positive memory of the day. I wish Daniel all the best in the future, success in his studies and that he is happy in his career choice!! Also - the coffee and Vegan Dogs are AWESOME 😄 #discovercreativecareers #screenskills #bobandberts #blackpoolsixth #windowart #illustration #workexperience #neurodivergent #send #creativeprocess

🎄 Captured the festive photos for Bob and Berts’ Christmas campaign! Great to see them being rolled out across the stores today — stop by to feel the season’s cheer in person. 🌟 Bob & Berts #Photography #ChristmasCampaign #BobAndBerts