Welcome to CRASP – a Creative Transitional Space, proudly sponsored by the Student Experience Team at the University of Edinburgh. CRASP is not just a project; it's your dedicated campus haven, carefully designed to provide an open and accepting space for students to unleash their creativity through arts and crafts.

Our mission is to create a welcoming environment where students can escape the daily stress, find inspiration, and connect with like-minded peers. Whether you want to try crafting or art, CRASP is the go-to spot on campus where stress takes a back seat, and creativity takes center stage. CRASP aims to be a vibrant community where students come together to unwind, create, and build lasting memories.

Our Story:

CRASP was born from the idea of play. An idea that is not very often advocated especially in the lives of adults. Even though it is not widely accepted, adults do play. We join in with kids, we play sports, we go to boardgames bars, we find the spaces that provide an ‘acceptable’ frame for our playfulness. CRASP aims to be one of these spaces.

In a modern society that prioritizes productivity and efficiency, we recognize the significant potential that playful activities hold. Contrary to mere recreation, research supports the notion that engaging in playfulness can greatly enhance cognitive functions, including creativity, problem-solving skills, and overall well-being. Our mission at CRASP is to challenge traditional norms and emphasise the transformative impact of infusing daily routines with elements of fun and experimentation.

But what is play? At CRASP we believe that any activity can become playful if you have a holding structure (eg. rules of the game) around it, but allow enough freedom for participants to be curious in exploring without having to worry about a certain outcome. For this reason, CRASP aims to be a community space where there are no professionals teaching you, but rather helpers who are ready to learn with you. 

So how does this look in practice? While CRASP helpers will not tell you what to do step by step, please don’t worry if you arrive without any ideas. CRASP offers project booklets (colour coded depending on how much time it would take) where you can learn the basic techniques and offer a few ideas on how you can use them. Our helpers are also there to assist you at any point along the way.

While CRASP is the advocate of all playful activities, in its opening month, it was designed to use arts and crafts as mediums to explore playfulness.