Rowan is a vibrant, independent registered charity providing an arts centre and forest school for more than 80 adults with learning disabilities living in Cambridgeshire and the adjoining counties. Since 1984 we have provided a safe, creative, and enriching environment where the arts are used as a tool to bring people together and tackle social exclusion. We develop the skills and potential of our students whilst improving their happiness, health and wellbeing. Rowan provides a range of creative workshops in woodwork, ceramics, textiles, print, mixed media, drama and music. We are open Monday to Friday, 9am–3pm, 50 weeks a year. We arrange regular trips out to theatres, museums and exhibitions to explore art and culture further, and in 2020 we launched Rowan Rangers, our new forest school which enables our students to be creative and connect with nature. We have a strong social enterprise ethos and accept both large and small-scale commissions from individuals and organisations. We also produce artworks and items such as our popular finger labyrinths to sell online and at exhibitions and events. Rowan also run a range of community art classes during the evenings and weekends and our venue is available to hire outside our creative workshop hours. It costs over £600,000 a year to run Rowan. We receive some income in student fees but rely on fundraising to cover the full cost of our workshops. We believe that people living with a disability should have the same choice, quality of life, opportunities and aspirations as others and with your support we can continue to make this possible.
