Teaming Up to Make a Dream Come True
- 28th Apr 2025
- Author: Elliott Langley - Marketing Administrator
Last month, our team embarked on an unforgettable five-day adventure to help make one young person’s dreams come true and set her on the path to becoming a recording artist in the future. It’s a tale of music, space, creativity, following your passions, and… dragons!
Our protagonist is Ellie, a youngster from Leicester who recently turned 18. A pupil of Dorothy Goodman School, which supports people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, Ellie has a vibrant imagination, an infectious energy, and a passion for music.
She dreams not just of listening to songs, but of creating her own album filled with magic, dragons, gemstones, and galaxies far away. But to bring such a vision to life, she needed a fellowship of helpers with the skills needed to turn dream into reality.
The Journey Begins…
It started with Sue, a Senior Teaching Assistant at Dorothy Goodman School, and Menphys, a fantastic local charity that empowers young people with disabilities. Together, they teamed up to help Ellie connect with our Community Engagement team to organise a work experience opportunity, funded by the generous support of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. While we do not usually offer experiences like this as a regular part of our programmes, this was a new and exciting opportunity for our team to provide mentorship and use the amazing skills of our team.
The first step was for Alex and Sean from our Community Engagement team to visit Dorothy Goodman School to meet Ellie and Susan, in order for them to get a feeling for what Ellie wanted to achieve. A plan was tailored to Ellie's interests and the team made sure it was her that had the final say in everything.
So, with passion in her heart and stars in her eyes, Ellie joined forces with our creative team. Over five epic days, she stepped into roles across design, music, media, and performance.
Chapter One: A Vision Brought to Life
Ingrid, Lead Graphic Designer
“Ellie’s first day was all about translating her fantastical ideas into artwork,” says Ingrid. “She had such a clear vision, filled with dragons, stars, and heroes. It was wildly different from what we usually design, so it put my skills to the test! The end result is a visually striking poster that Ellie was delighted with!”
Using tools like Photoshop and Illustrator, Ellie created a bold, colourful poster that captured her magical universe. “Her energy is contagious,” Ingrid added. “She’s a true creative.”
“My poster was awesome! It included all my favourite things about space!” – Ellie
Chapter Two: The Sound of Space
Lucy, Videographer/Photographer
Next, Ellie entered our Media Studio to lay down her vocals. With Lucy behind the controls, Ellie recorded a song of her own creation.
“Ellie was able to use our recording capabilities and microphone to belt out her lyrics, whilst I recorded the performance,” said Lucy. “She was the artist and I was the studio technician. She came in knowing exactly what she wanted; we just helped her bring it to life. It was so fun to be putting our knowledge and talent towards something very different. It was really interesting for us to see how space connects to a younger audience.”
“I got to write a song about space, record it, act, and add special effects and lyrics. It was amazing!” – Ellie
Chapter Three: Lights, Camera, Action
Claire, Content Creator
Once the track was recorded, it was time to create a music video. With the galleries closed to the public, Ellie was free to perform her anthem.
“The great thing about filming in the galleries is that everything can be a backdrop,” Claire explains. “Ellie completely went for it. We gave her props and she just lit up; the galleries became her stage. Once we had finished, I edited the footage together with Lucy’s video from the recording process. Then I passed the baton to Michelle, so that she could add some effects to the video”
Chapter Four: Post-Production
Michelle, Graphic Designer
Michelle joined Ellie for the final flourish: post-production. Together, they added effects, subtitles, and even a text crawl.
“Here we added special effects to the video using a software called After Effects,” said Michelle. “I knew Ellie is very into space, so I had done some research into what effects might fit her ideas. I was particularly fond of an effect that showers stars all over the screen. I thought it might fit with a few key moments in the video. But once Ellie saw it, she wanted it all the way through from the start of the video to the end!”
The Final Chapter: The Premiere
On the final day, Ellie presented her project to the team and her family. Her poster appeared on the big screen, and her music video got its official premiere.
But this experience wasn’t just about performance. Ellie also helped deliver a public workshop, learned about animals in space (and their smells!), worked in the gift shop to learn about money, and developed new life skills such as confidence, creativity, and collaboration.
“I couldn’t believe I helped give a workshop to the public. I learnt new things too,” said Ellie. “The whole experience helped with my Bronze Arts Award, and I can’t wait to do more.”
Ellie is now preparing to move on to Sense College, where she plans to continue her creative journey with more art, music, and drama.
“I want to keep learning about space and visiting the National Space Centre whenever I can,” Ellie says. “It was amazing, it triggered memories of past visits and seeing a shooting star. I loved the team they were all really friendly, welcoming and happy to teach me their jobs. I ‘found my people’ because they all love the things I do!”
“What a fantastic opportunity Ellie has had at the National Space Centre,” said Sue. “She has been so excited to go each week and learn more about the job roles there and to learn more about space. She has been eager to share her experiences with family, friends and peers and staff in school. It was such a memorable experience and will stay with her for many, many years.
This couldn’t have happened without the commitment made by so many staff at the Centre. They genuinely wanted the very best for Ellie and to see her thrive and learn. Everyone was so supportive and generous and I feel went over and above what was expected of them. The activities provided offered excellent learning and exceeded what I was expecting. The opportunity to take part in a creative project not only allowed Ellie to learn about the Design Team but was a valuable part of her Arts Award and played to her strengths and interests.
I personally would like to say a huge thank you and congratulations to everyone involved, including Menphys who worked with the National Space Centre to make this happen. We look forward to working with you again in the future!”
