Brighter Days Academy
Are you a maker, artisan, craftsperson, artist?
Brighter Days Academy brings you the Spring Series 2026 of practical sessions that will hone your messaging, give you confidence with socials, discuss the new tax laws and help you prepare to sell to the public, shops and galleries and reach out to expand your network and customer base.
As well as all of the above, the sessions are the foundations for the next Brighter Days Magazine, promoting you and your fellow makers, artisans, craftspeople and artists. You can see Issue 1 HERE***
These sessions are open to all small creative businesses in East Kent with a minimal charge of £5 per session.
Maximum 20 places at each session
***If you can’t make the sessions (which would be a real shame, as we’ll miss you) there will still be the opportunity for inclusion in the Magazine, both as the founder of your wonderful small business, or by listing your upcoming events.
Make Your Own Path with social media & marketing
Thursday 12 and/or Friday 13 February, 10am to 2.30pm
Are you getting stuck, lost and annoyed by all the digital things that are now expected of us makers, artists, artisans and craftspeople?
Spend one or two days in central Margate ironing everything out and discovering that there are simple ways to promote yourself and your work.
We’re delighted that Poppy Phibbs, a marketeer who supports local creative businesses, is able to spend two days with us. She’ll share insights, tips and tricks to get your marketing under control, so that you can spend more time doing that most important thing, which is designing and making.
Each of the two days will run with a similar programme and you are invited to book one or both, there’s always value in learning something, going away and giving it a go, then coming back with questions. If you have a question about it, the chances are that you’re not the only one.
The sessions are for everyone, whatever your experience, number of followers or knowledge and will start with checking that you have the basics in place, as everything always works so much better if this is the case. We’ll move on to answer your questions (please add them to the booking form, so there is time to do any research or testing needed before the workshops) and have discussions about what to post and how often.
You’ll leave with new skills, confidence and a simple plan to follow to keep you going throughout the year.
What’s not to love? Book your place, it only costs £5 each day, and come and join this welcoming and friendly group, there’s no judgment here!
Looking forward to seeing you on 12 & 13 February.
Brighter Days is part of Craft UK, a network facilitated by Crafts Council for organisations from across the craft sector and a member of a-n, The Artist Information Company.
Brighter Days Markets was established in 2013 and was awarded CIC (Community Interest Company) status in 2024 to provide benefit to makers, craftspeople and artists by supporting their activities and providing selling opportunities and training to upskill and improve their route to success. In 2024 alone it offered selling opportunities to 42 East Kent independent small businesses.
The Brighter Days Academy Spring Series 2026 has been made possible by funding awarded by the UK Government as part of the Social Enterprise Boost Fund.
The Brighter Days Academy Summer Series 2025 has been made possible by funding from Margate Creative Land Trust as part of Seed funding by Thanet District Council through the Margate Town Deal.
The Brighter Days Academy Spring Series 2025 was been made possible by funding by Thanet District Council as part of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, Thanet Social Enterprise Boost Fund and Don’t Miss Margate’s Community Solidarity Fund.
Brighter Days Magazine
August 2025
The Magazine will contain articles about makers, artisans, craftspeople and artists, alongside listings of upcoming events, photography and interviews. It will be available at the end of September – join us for the launch event – sign up HERE to be sent the details and for Brighter Days news.
Get The Picture
Thursday 14 August 2025
Free for Thanet businesses / £5 for those outside Thanet
With photography key to selling, showing and getting your products noticed, York Street Studio will share some tips, hints and knowledge from photographer Lyndon Fright and stylist Claire McCullough on how to achieve this…
Bring along your phone or camera and an item from your product range and spend time with Lyndon and Claire giving it a studio-style makeover.
You’ll leave the session with a greater understanding of what makes a great photo, how best to utilise your phone and its settings and pride in your achievement.
Make It Say It
Tuesday 5 August 2025
Free for Thanet businesses / £5 for those outside Thanet
An engaging story about your work can help to reach more people and make customers feel more connected to what you do. In this workshop…
…journalist Andy Malt will work with you to identify and hone your story. From there, you’ll learn how to write that story in various formats, including biogs, press releases, and articles. You’ll then write a piece about yourself for the new Brighter Days Magazine.
Small Talk Big Impact
Tuesday 19 August 2025
Free for Thanet businesses / £5 for those outside Thanet
This workshop will look at how to tell your story out loud…
whether that’s with customers, on stage, in the media, or just around the dinner table. Journalist Andy Malt will guide you through techniques to hone your story and speak engagingly and with confidence about it.
Marketing for Makers
(who’d rather be making)
Tuesday 12 August 2025
Free for Thanet businesses / £5 for those outside Thanet
If SEO makes your eyes glaze over and marketing feels like a full-time job on top of your actual full-time job, you’re not alone. In this friendly, informal session…
…digital marketing expert Emma Goode from 24 fingers will walk you through how to make your website, mailing list and social channels quietly do more heavy lifting. You’ll learn easy wins that feel authentic and make a real impact.
Expect practical tips and a clear action plan, without the jargon.
Smarter Content
in less time
Wednesday 27 August 2025
Free for Thanet businesses / £5 for those outside Thanet
This second session with Emma will help you turn strategy into scroll stopping content without burnout…
We’ll cover batching, repurposing, and how to create content that ranks, connects and converts.
Selling Further Afield
Tuesday 18 March 2025
Free for Thanet businesses / £5 for those outside Thanet
Discover the ins and outs of selling to galleries and shops in this all-encompassing look at selling wholesale to trade. Do you already feel lost in the lingo? Don’t worry, Lindsay and Jenny will explain all and guide you through, so that you
can make the important decision as to whether this is the right direction for your creative business.
If you already sell to trade, this is a great opportunity to share your experience and discover tips and tricks to help you expand further.
The session will look at why, what and how to go about selling further afield.
Lindsay Marsden started The Black Rabbit in 2006 with colourful lambswool gifts, home accessories and decorations before segueing to the best-selling range of greetings cards and paper products that she sells today.
Between studying knitwear at the Royal College of Art and setting up The Black Rabbit, Lindsay worked with Anthropologie USA, Liberty and the Wellcome Collection to sell and send products to stores all over the globe.
Alongside her work for The Black Rabbit, Lindsay is a textile pattern designer and collage artist.
Jenny Duff established her tableware business in 1999 with her own images and selling at Spitalfields Market for a year before her first trade fair. Stockists include Liberty, Selfridges, The Duchy of Cornwall and her private clients list has Kevin McCloud on it. Her own designs form part of the product range, which is much expanded by working with designers she admires to produce tablemats and coasters for Happy Dining around the world.
Before founding Jenny Duff, Jenny had a successful career in advertising. Most recently she has set up Brighter Days to create selling and development opportunities for makers, artisans and craftspeople.
Know Your Customer
Wednesday 12 February 2025
Free for Thanet businesses / £5 for those outside Thanet
Have you ever thought about what’s inside your customer’s head and what they need from you?
With eight years in charge of customer experience at John Lewis and ten more as Mary Portas’ business partner, Peter is a
customer expert, retail consultant, change maker and communicator. He joins us to share his knowledge, insights and trusted techniques enabling you to form customer relationships and make your creative business irresistible.
You will leave the session with clear and actionable insights and a passion and determination to stand out and showcase your own talent.
Pressing Matters
Wednesday 12 March 2025
Free for Thanet businesses / £5 for those outside Thanet
Have you wondered what it takes to be mentioned in a magazine, newspaper or blog? Come along and meet Joe Bill, the Editorial Director of cene Media which publishes the award winning ‘cene magazine six times each year.
Joe will share his experience as an editor, alongside what he looks for in a press release and how to attract the attention of the press with your writing and imagery.
The afternoon session will give you the opportunity to draft your own press release for consideration by Joe (and other editors that you plan to approach with your exciting news story).
Set Your Goals
Fri 7, Fri 14, Sat 15 March 2025
Free for Thanet businesses / £5 for those outside Thanet
Having guided time to reflect on your needs and goals can help bring your life and business plans into focus. The session will give you time to discuss the issues that you are dealing with and give rise to actions that you could take.
Dedicating time to yourself, your own well-being and your personal development this is a brilliant way to invest in your future self, career and creativity.
You’ll leave the session with a clearer route forward, feeling empowered and with greater confidence.
Ed Garvey-Long has been trained by the International Coaching Federation and works with a diverse range of clients to support them through career change, burn out and finding more creativity in their lives.
As a poet and sewer he is well attuned to the juggling of careers and the struggle to prioritise your passions.
The sessions look at practical goals to work towards as well as exploring the emotional background to why issues have come up. Conversations often become deep and meaningful very quickly and subjects covered could include work stress and burnout, building self confidence, maintaining your work-life balance and setting and maintaining boundaries.
Brighter Days Markets 