We are an award winning social enterprise

Thanks to funding from Red Rose Recovery, the hard work of Blank Space Theatre and the support and enthusiasm of the people of Skelmersdale, we

have produced, “Skem, I love you”. a socially

distanced community soap opera, documenting

life in lockdown for the residents of Skem.

What a journey it’s been.

Way back in March, Red Rose Recovery awarded

funding to run a course of stand-up comedy workshops for young people in Skelmersdale. Our hope was to tackle the rise in youth knife crime in the area by bringing young people together and giving them the opportunity to air their frustrations creatively. With the help of Dan

and Emma Carmichael from Blank Space Theatre,

we planned to take our young comedians from first rehearsal right through to their first live gig; giving them the skills, confidence and support to stand up in front of their friends and families and share their experiences of life. A film of the project was to form the basis of our larger vision, "Skem, I Love You" the world’s first

social enterprise feature film.

Then Lockdown happened.

This put our plans for the stand up project and feature film on hold. However, we recognised

that Lockdown was going to take its toll on the wellbeing of Skem’s residents and that now more than ever, we needed to come together and

be creative to ensure the wellbeing

of our community.

So instead, we used the funding to run

"Skem, I love you" lockdown soap opera.

The project’s ambition was to provide a positive experience for households on lockdown; a community experience involving linking with other families and building new support networks. We also wanted it to be an opportunity for people to learn new skills and increase their

self-confidence.

We supported our households with weekly Zoom meetings for four months. It’s been

a democratic project throughout, with people producing their own work on their own terms. Our job as project leaders

has been to provide encouragement and expertise when needed. It’s a true

reflection of people and their personal expression of lockdown, as well as

a unique document of social history

in this unprecedented time.

all participants felt an improved sense of wellbeing, an improved sense of pride about their town and now have a more positive approach to their mental health. as a wellbeing project, our soap opera was a resounding success.

There are some notable individual participant successes to celebrate as well, such as Mary-anne who has been inspired to set up her own youtube channel where she shares her food preparation videos.

certainly among the project's greatest achievments is giving our 14 year old writer

ryan the opportunity to write for professional actors who performed and filmed his monologues. We're honoured to have been part of his and everyone else’s lockdown journey.

The project has turned out to be a comprehensive account of one towns lockdown experience,

a shared experience we can all relate to.

The soap itself is funny, touching, emotional and honest. Everything a good soap should Be.

Find our "Skem, i Love You"

Lockdown soap opera here.

We are an award winning social enterprise

connector media cic trades to tackle social problems. Our goal

is to improve the wellbeing of

the communities we work with.