Chelmsford Skills Fest 2025: Young People Designing Bigger Dreams
Chelmsford Skills Fest 2025: Young People Designing Bigger Dream CALFE returns to the Chelmsford Skills Fest for the 2nd time in a row, enticing Year 8 with a creative challenge for their annual theme. Find out which ideas sparked the most interest and why.
CHELMSFORD SKLLS FESTIVAL
At Skills Fest 2025, held at Anglia Ruskin University Writtle on 26 June, CALFE delivered a live illustration activity inviting young people to help shape the visual identity of the festival’s 2025 theme: Books Our Bridge to Bigger Dreams.
Led by myself alongside illustrator community leader G. Tumber, the Design a Poster activity invited hundreds of Year 8 students from across the district to explore what the theme meant to them through drawing and visual storytelling.
Students were asked to imagine what Books Our Bridges to Bigger Dreams could look like. Their responses were imaginative and thoughtful. Some visualised books as pathways to new worlds; others saw them as routes to ambition, identity, and opportunity. Each piece reflected a personal understanding of how reading can expand horizons and connect young people to futures beyond their immediate experience.
The activity created a lively and inclusive space where students could express ideas freely and see their work valued in a public setting. This was especially meaningful within the wider Skills Fest environment, where young people were surrounded by many competing opportunities and activities. The quality of engagement at the CALFE stand, despite that wider noise, reflected genuine curiosity and enthusiasm. We were delighted that so many students chose to stop, participate, and share their ideas.
The originality and thoughtfulness of the work offered valuable insight into how young people understand the power of books, imagination, and possibility. Their contributions have helped shape the visual and creative thinking behind CALFE’s 2025 programme.
Students were asked to imagine what Books Our Bridges to Bigger Dreams could look like. Their responses were imaginative and thoughtful. Some visualised books as pathways to new worlds; others saw them as routes to ambition, identity, and opportunity. Each piece reflected a personal understanding of how reading can expand horizons and connect young people to futures beyond their immediate experience.
The activity created a lively and inclusive space where students could express ideas freely and see their work valued in a public setting. This was especially meaningful within the wider Skills Fest environment, where young people were surrounded by many competing opportunities and activities. The quality of engagement at the CALFE stand, despite that wider noise, reflected genuine curiosity and enthusiasm. We were delighted that so many students chose to stop, participate, and share their ideas.
The originality and thoughtfulness of the work offered valuable insight into how young people understand the power of books, imagination, and possibility. Their contributions have helped shape the visual and creative thinking behind CALFE’s 2025 programme.
Students were asked to imagine what Books Our Bridges to Bigger Dreams could look like. Their responses were imaginative and thoughtful. Some visualised books as pathways to new worlds; others saw them as routes to ambition, identity, and opportunity. Each piece reflected a personal understanding of how reading can expand horizons and connect young people to futures beyond their immediate experience.
The activity created a lively and inclusive space where students could express ideas freely and see their work valued in a public setting. This was especially meaningful within the wider Skills Fest environment, where young people were surrounded by many competing opportunities and activities. The quality of engagement at the CALFE stand, despite that wider noise, reflected genuine curiosity and enthusiasm. We were delighted that so many students chose to stop, participate, and share their ideas.
The originality and thoughtfulness of the work offered valuable insight into how young people understand the power of books, imagination, and possibility. Their contributions have helped shape the visual and creative thinking behind CALFE’s 2025 programme.
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