Marvellous Fabulous Projects CIC

30/06/2026

I have never been up the Spinnaker Tower , so as a cherry-popper, this was really, really lovely.

Shaping Portsmouth has given the Portsmouth Ambassador Programme a refresh. The current Portsmouth Ambassadors were invited for tea and scones up the tower to chat together, talk about all that we love about our City, and hear from Joe giving a wonderful presentation about the Portsmouth City of Culture 2029 bid. From Dickens to the dock ♥️

The passion and pride for our City is such a special thing. It's infectious and it was beautiful to spend time with people who give up their free time voluntarily to show visitors just how wonderful our home is 💙💛

23/06/2026

How exciting to be the interviewee for this episode of the Shaping Portsmouth podcast!

Let me know what you think!

22/06/2026

Ooooooh - I hadn't seen the cool vid for this! Proud to be a lil part of this one!!
The Young Creatives TMC Computing Limited
You're amazing Lesley-Anne 💙

18/06/2026

Today is my final session with cohort 3 for the Pamodzi Creatives - Arts Council England Portsmouth Creates funded Who Inspires You children's book project 💜

It's so bittersweet for many reasons - firstly because Ace isn't in this photo because they were away last week, and things were too crazy to get a photo of everyone today!

Secondly, because the young people at 432 NoMads have blown us away with their creativity - natually immensely talented teenagers who are a joy to spend time and create with. It's sad that our 8 workshops has come to an end 😩

Thirdly, because today was the final session of all 3 cohorts - with URBOND Youth Development first, then Unloc and finally 432 NoMads - what an inexpressible joy to have interacted with maybe 100 of Portsmouth's young people, and to have got to know and created directly with 25 of them. 24 creating weeks! What a blessing!!!

Massive, massive gratitude to beautiful Jo Austin and Candy Bamber | Illustration who have been our resident professionals. They were invited to share their journey with the young people as publishers authors and as an illustrator...but they did so much more 🥹 They came to more sessions than they needed to, they got involved with the huddles and the interviews, they shared their story of 'why' and 'how', not as career guidance, but telling their story...because telling stories inspires. They went above and beyond to show the young people that they can turn their creativity and ideas and imagery into a profession if they chose to, or to simply make a dream tangible. You can't be what you can't see, and the young people now know that they too can be Candy or Jo one day - successful, creative, Pompey women 🥹

Now that the workshops are done, it's time to get publishing and I'm so very much looking forward to sharing the young people's work with you!!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

30/05/2026

The end of my financial year is my time to reflect on who has been a game changer in my year. Let's be honest, when everything 'takes a tribe', there have been many game changers, but the MFP annual Awesome Award is my public thank you to just one.

This year's Awesome Award goes to 🥁🥁🥁
Katy Featherstone-Coombes

In 2025, there were so many priorities of equal weight and importance, that I lost (misplaced!) my identity, my confidence and my path.

I met Katy at a The Lark Network Lunchbreak event and knew that she would be my hand-hold. At the time, Katy was a business coach, and when the time was right, I picked up the phone.

Katy didn't save me, but she held my hand whilst I 'trod water'. She listened to all my complicated feelings and vague descriptions of my thoughts as I processed things. She listened and listened and listened and brought me back on track every time. She gave me goals that didn't feel like goals. She helped me define and describe a future that felt so out of reach - not even out of reach, unachievable. She was an objective sounding board - challenging with empathy and praising my every microscopic achievement.

When you give birth, sometimes labour can feel so overwhelming that you forget how to breath and a good midwife will hold your hand and remind you how to breath in and breath out....and that's what Katy did for me, in business and in life and all the ways that they intersect and overlap when you're self-employed.

Katy, you are AWESOME. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support through a time when I forgot how to breath in and out 💙💙💙

22/05/2026

21/05/2026

One of the perks of working with young creatives in the City, is being able to take your kids along to projects and let them immerse themselves in a community of amazing kids that they never would have met before.

The and funded children's book project provides an opportunity for my own children to be inspired by the AMAZING young people at !

Inspiration is infectious and contagious and so, so joyful!

18/05/2026

The rebuild season is going from strength to strength 💪🏻
Day 1 of my first day joining the Team 🥰🥰🥰

As usual, IT kindly provided the stereotypical teething problems that are to be expected on all first days, which very nearly pushed Steff over the edge 😆🫣 BUT...we got there and I'm very much looking forward to working with a really, really lovely bunch who work so hard for out City 💙

07/03/2026

How do you gauge the impact of a free event?

Footfall?
Promise of return?
Lessons learnt?
A cool hoodie?

My person opinion is that success and impact is best measured by meaningful interactions 👌🏻

You can't control the unpredictable or the unquantifiable, but you can control how you make people, especially children, feel - how impressed you are by what they've created, how much you love that they were willing to give something a go, how imaginative their design was....children thrive from specific praise and grown-ups love watching their little people thrive!

Another successful day at ...and a super cool hoody!