“£600 is a lot of money to a small charity and can have an impact on over 60 people.” — Juliet Stallard, Director and Workshop Presenter, Saltwater Creations CIC
Through community funding, Juliet Stallard (known as Jules) ran over 54 art sessions in 2025, reaching more than 545 people across West Sussex.
But if you ask her what success looks like, she’ll tell you about a boy throwing washed-up starfish back into the sea: you can’t save them all, but you can make a difference to each one that you do save. That’s the logic Saltwater Creations CIC runs on — and it’s why the funding behind each session matters more than whatever size it comes in.
The sessions are designed to seed the use of blue space and the arts to help the people in the community in times of adversity.
— Juliet (Jules) Stallard, Director of Saltwater Creations
The story behind the sessions
Saltwater Creations was founded by Jules in 2015, born from her own experience of loss and recovery, and from discovering firsthand how the sea has a way of putting things back in order.
11 years on, the West Sussex-based community organisation runs beach-themed arts and wellbeing workshops for people experiencing emotional health challenges, isolation and disadvantage, as well as non-judgmental support to those in the wider community.
The sessions work because they don’t feel clinical.
“The sessions are designed to seed the use of blue space and arts to help the people in the community in times of adversity.”
The beach is the anchor: “The blue space, the beach, is somewhere that most of us can associate with. Many of us have spent holidays in this place and have great memories of what it brings to us as a child, for an adult or a grandparent. For those who haven’t ever been to the beach, they would have seen the beach in films, on postcards, in books — normally displayed as an idyllic, calm environment — so it gives them a chance to experience that in the session.”
And what participants take away from the sessions is just as deliberate:
“The idea is that after the workshop, the participants have been given some tools to use in their own routines — whether that be visiting the beach, using calm ocean music, using the arts for mindfulness, or going out in nature, even if this might be a green space if they’re not near a blue space such as a forest or a field,” says Jules.
The goal of the workshops is to plant a seed, sparking that connection with the outside to help navigate you through difficult times.
Any size donation makes an immediate impact and all size donations add up to a much bigger picture.
— Jules Stallard, Saltwater Creations
How Match My Project helped take it further
Through Match My Project, several businesses (including Anglian Building, Alphatracks Systems, and Premier Park Ltd, matched through Hyde Housing) contributed funding that collectively enabled new sessions, new equipment and an entirely new project: Saltwater Steppers, a morning beach fitness programme that launched in January 2026.
For Jules, that funding security translates directly into something she values more than the money itself: the ability to say yes.
“It has enabled me to plan projects over a period of time to specific groups of people. It means I’ve been able to go to charities and community groups and offer something to their beneficiaries, often for free, that they wouldn’t be able to offer themselves. This adds value to other charities/ nonprofit organisations beyond Saltwater Creations.
It has also meant that I haven’t had to turn down any request for support, because most of the funding has been able to reach any of these disadvantaged groups.”
The diversity of those contributions matters as much as the total.
“Sometimes I’m able to compound the impact by matching two bits of funding for different things — for example, a company that funds delivering the workshops, and a company that funds the equipment for the workshops. Small amounts help us as much as larger amounts, and the small amounts really add up.“
What the sessions actually do
In 2025 alone, Saltwater Creations reached 545 attendees — 312 of them new to the programme, 233 returning. The participant feedback tells its own story.
“I felt really calm while making a card out of beach plastic. We had great conversations, and I think these sessions are really good for people’s mental health. It’s such a creative session where everyone is welcome to make something and release their inner child.”
“The session gave a really great way to connect with new people — by doing the art together, the conversation flowed naturally, so it really helped with making new connections.”
“I left the morning feeling very happy and will be actively looking for items to collect.”
That last quote is quietly significant. Someone has left a workshop and changed how they move through the world, in a small but real way. The seed, taking root.
Jules sees this happen differently in every session. “Sometimes it can be one small conversation with somebody that gives them a new direction to take. Often it’s seeing someone leave the room with a new level of confidence and glow that they didn’t have when arriving.”
Being present on Match My Project also raised Saltwater Creations’ visibility in ways that opened doors beyond individual matches including Hyde Housing’s Later Life project, where Saltwater Creations has delivered workshops funded by national and local funders.
Jules is candid about the administrative weight that comes with managing multiple smaller grants: “All charities and CICs are regulated and have to account for restricted income and allocation of spend, which can take a lot of time.”
But she is equally clear about what that diversity is worth:
“The main pro is that it gives us a diverse funding base so that the CIC is never dependent on one funder or company. It also gives us more awareness when each company promotes a donation through their social media and marketing channels, such as on LinkedIn, often bringing in new interest to the CIC.”
Sometimes funders wish to buy tangible items, equipment — but actually supporting the infrastructure of a small CIC or charity could change the future landscape for the CIC and its beneficiaries.
— Jules Stallard, Saltwater Creations
On what businesses should know
When asked what she’d say to a business wondering whether a contribution of £600 makes a dent, Jules is direct:
“Any size donation makes an immediate impact and all size donations add up to a much bigger picture. With the skills of fundraising and financial project planning, small donations can be mapped into great projects. £600 is a lot of money to a small charity and can have an impact on over 60 people.”
She also offers a perspective that goes beyond the transactional. What Saltwater Creations brings to a session, and what no amount of funding can manufacture, is lived experience. “Life experience is one of the most valued parts of the service that I deliver. It means that the participants that come to the sessions know that there is empathy and understanding about their situations.”
“It brings something that money can’t buy: hope,” she says. “The companies that fund us help that happen with their donations.”
Jules also makes a less obvious case for what businesses choose to fund.
Saltwater Creations is currently reforming its legal structure, moving to a CIC Limited by Guarantee, a change that makes the organisation more fundable in the long run but requires significant time, admin and cost.
“Sometimes funders wish to buy tangible items, equipment — but actually supporting something like the infrastructure of a small CIC or charity could change the future landscape for the CIC and its beneficiaries.”
A contribution that never appears in a project campaign can be the one that makes everything else possible.
What’s next
As Saltwater Creations moves into its second decade, it aims to raise £8,149 in 2026–27, 34 sessions already confirmed, and a growing network of partners.
The Saltwater Steppers project is under way, bringing a new physical wellbeing element to the workshop portfolio and new arts collaborations are forming along the coast.
“Saltwater hopes to continue its sessions, and help at least one starfish in each session,” says Jules. “Then we know we are being successful in our mission.”
The cure for anything is salt water: sweat, tears or the sea.
— Isak Dinesen, “The Deluge at Norderney”, Seven Gothic Tales
Saltwater Creations CIC delivers beach-themed arts and wellbeing sessions across West Sussex. To find out more, visit saltwatercreations.co.uk or follow their work on Instagram and Facebook.
Other organisations mentioned: Alphatracks Systems, Anglian Building Products, Hyde Housing Association and Premier Park Ltd.
