**Imagine a space that when you enter ignites your senses -- you can feel the rich heritage of the local area oozing out through every object you see. You can smell the scent of fresh flowers and ferns reminding you that you are in the heart of the National Forest. Paintings adorn the walls, metal sculptures emerge from the floor and ceramic creations balance effortlessly on shelves made of wood and metal.** **You are in MAKERS -- a space where everything has been crafted locally, from the carved wooden bowls, to the knitted woolly bobble hat; from the hand painted lampshades to the Coalville themed wrapping paper, the locally made honey to the metal garden snail.** **From being told in 2016 that 'There are no creative people in Coalville' this project helps to harness and showcase local talent and put Coalville on the map as a creative place to visit! There certainly are creative people in Coalville -- and they need a platform to be seen and heard!** **The objectives are to provide the space for local creatives to share their products and to support for them to develop their own enterprises and, in so doing help to turn the retail space, 'MAKERS' into a destination venue to attract people from across the area to visit and spend. Specifically this project will:** -**Create a 'wow' space in the centre of Coalville for MAKERS to showcase their products** -**To promote MAKERS as part of the National Forest creative trail across the district and a Coalville Town Trail** -**To increase MAKERS and Gallery turnover to be profitable in year one and see 25% year on year growth through hire of the space and commission on sales.** -**To increase profitability of individual MAKERS through enterprise support and improved sales and marketing** -**To launch an online Makers marketplace** **Why is this innovative? Firstly, there are no permanent galleries/creative spaces in Coalville-- this will bring something completely new to the area, following our trials with partners at Coalville CAN during 2022\. Secondly, as a MAKER you normally have to rent space-- shops and galleries are expensive. As part of this project as a MAKER not only will you have access to affordable space to showcase and sell items-- they will also be able to own the building they are in through a share offer and play a part in its management! Local people become investors!**