Thanks are in order

Pottery-24 was totally dependent on the energy of you - the Connectors, donors, our friends and supporters and we think it was a great success. Your work made it possible for some great things to be accomplished. Here are a few highlights:

Well over 200 individuals have made donations for the event and almost all of these were brand new to JustWork & JustPotters!

Over $12,000 has been raised so far, and we still have donations trickiling in.

Over $2,000 of pottery was sold during the 24-hour period.

The event has created wonderful momentum as we received so much positive feedback around the idea and the execution.

We hope that you are encouraged by your participation with Pottery-24. No matter whether you have connected many individuals to JustWork as donors or you haven't been able to bring in any, we are grateful for what you are offering. The thought and work that you are expending will reap benefits well into the future, and as a result people will have work, dignity will be gained, and community will be shaped. Thank you!

We would love your feedback around Pottery-24. If you can, please take a few minutes and send us a reply with your thoughts. What aspects made this a success? What areas could we improve? What other ideas should we consider? Email pottery-24@justwork.ca Thanks!

Finally, if you would like to continue supporting JustWork in some way, then we would love to have your help. Here are some possibilities:

• Join our email list to stay abreast of JustWork happenings
• Invite us to speak at your church or workplace
• Sell our pottery to your networks and get some free pottery for yourself! (Just ask us about this new idea)
• Promote our enterprises in pottery, catering, and renovations among your friends and co-workers
• Volunteer your skills (whether weekly or occasionally) to help with our work
• Become a monthly donor

Please send us an email if you want to inquire about any of the above.

Snaps from the Kick-Off Party

Getting ready for our guests to arrive...

...the room was beautifully set with clay on every table...

...to let creative fingers play. There was a great turn out, with lots of happy chatter...

... while we were entertained by the wonderul Sheree Plett & Jeremy Eisenhauer...

...and nibbled on an array of delicious food freshly prepared and served by the team from JustCatering.

Some of the many teacups thown over the 24 hours, Nancy and Matt serenade us, Terri shares her experience of volunteering with JustPotters and Robyn's creative "menu".

The pottery wheel began at 6pm Saturday. Guests came and helped us celebrate the kick-off from 7-10, but the pottery wheel didn't stop when they went home... and was still going at 9am the following day thanks to these amazing ladies (and others)... and it continued to go until 6pm Sunday! 24 hours non-stop! Phewf, I'm tired just thinking about it now.

Pottery-24: the first five hours

5 hours down, 19 more to go!

Getting ready for this weekends big event...

Pictures:
*Leigh and Olga hand painting designs onto tea cups*
*Finished tea cups which will be given as gifts to Connectors*
*Commercial Drive themed wares including magnets (new addition!) and mugs*
*Post cards we distruibuted around the neighborhood*

We're having a Kick-off Party to launch our 24 hour fundraiser this Saturday from 7-10pm in the lower hall of 1803 East 1st Avenue (above the Pottery Studio) for Connectors, friends and supporters. Following this a group of committed potters and supportive friends (and possibly you if you're interested) will stay up, around the clock for 24 hours and keep the pottery wheel spinning the whole time! If you would like to come along Saturday evening to the Kick-off Party email: pottery-24@justwork.ca for more info. If you are keen to have a go on the wheel or buy some pottery or just want to come and say hello, come and see us on Commercial Drive on the corner of William St on Sunday from 12-6pm.

NB: Incase you've experienced trouble publishing recently... I have too! I was able to compose this message yesterday but 'it' wouldn't let me publish it. I kept getting a message saying "javascript:void(0)". I read that this problem can be connected with Internet Explorer and as we had just installed an update I installed a new version of Google Chrome instead and this browser let me publish.

The Significance of Donations

Here it is. This project has been a long time coming, so we're glad to finally share it with the world. We'd really appreciate if you could spare a few minutes to watch this video which we hope will be a useful tool. As the introduction states:

Our goal is to inform individuals new to social enterprise about the financial challenges that social enterprises face. Also, we want to provide viewers with additional understanding of JustWork as we invite you to partner with us. Thanks for taking the time to watch, learn, and act!

12 steps

These are the steps Olga went through in the video below. Looking at them now I feel like I may even be brave enough to attempt a mug for myself one day*... we are finalising a new video which we hope to have up this week so please stay tuned. (These sketches didn't make the cut for the video but might interest you.)
By the way, we now have over 65 Connectors signed up! Well on our way to the 100 we are aiming for!

*Just to clarify my inexperience I am quite a new volunteer to JustPotters and pottery in general - the ladies making mugs for remuneration are very well trained and experienced! Sharolyn

Thanks CapChurch

A BIG thankyou to CapChurch in North Vancouver for a very warm welcome on Sunday. Leigh and Olga were invited to share with the congregation the work of JustPotters and Olga spoke about what JustPotters means for her as an employee. We were very pleased with pottery sales directly after the service and all of the positive feedback and encouragement. Thankyou again to the people from CapChurch for your support. We hope that you will enjoy many a warm cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate in your mugs and think of us often when you do!

Here is a quick video we put together for the presentation which shows Olga turning a block of ordinary clay into a beautiful mug, enjoy!