2
1
One Small Step for an Entrepreneur, One
Giant Leap for Success in Maidstone.
Starting
a
business
can
be
daunting
–
es-?
pecially
in
a
time
of
recession
but
when
an
idea
is
good
it’s
worth
all
the
hard
work.
Eighteen
months
ago
entrepre-?
neur
Emma
Whiitall
and
her
team
set
up
Stepping
Stone
Studios
-?
a
versatile
ven-?
ue
giving
Maidstone
a
space
that
really
has
evolved
from
community
feedback.
It
is
ventures
like
Stepping
Stone
Studios
that
make
Maidstone
great
and
really
embrace
all
the
different
demands
of
our
community.
Emma
explains:
“Stepping
Stone
Studios
has
been
up
and
running
for
over
a
year
and
half,
and
has
taken
a
unique
journey
since
April
2012
to
today.
Initially
set
up
as
a
studio
and
art
gallery,
and
fully
vol-?
unteer
staffed,
the
studio
has
developed
(with
the
support
of
the
community)
into
a
restaurant
and
venue
fit
to
host
a
vari-?
ety
of
alternative
events.”
The
Studios
were
set
up
in
April
2012
with
help
from
KCC’s
Small
Community
Capital
Fund
and
the
new
studios
web-?
site
tells
us
‘The
studio
was
started
by
a
group
of
innocent
early-?20-?
somethings,
with
a
love
for
culture
in
our
hearts
and
time
on
our
hands.
It
took
a
bunch
of
individually
skilled
and
enthu-?
siastic
contributors
volunteering
and
plugging
in
to
the
idea
to
make
it
hap-?
pen.
We
restored
a
2
storey
building
from
a
hairdressers,
into
a
studio,
gallery
and
cafe,
and
opened
doors
to
our
first
weekly
programmes
with
the
jam
night
and
life
drawing
class.”
This
is
a
surprise
within
itself
-?
a
jam
night
and
life
drawing
class
side
by
side;
two
po-?
lar
opposites
of
events
but
that
does
sum
up
what
Stepping
Stone
Studios
is
about.
Since
opening
the
Studios
have
hosted
and
organised
film
nights,
jam
nights,
a
range
of
art
workshops
for
kids
and
adults,
art
fairs,
poetry,
comedy,
music
gigs
of
all
sorts,
charity
exhibitions,
launches
and
fundraisers
for
small
organisations
and
has
now
branched
into
food
and
drink,
open-?
ing
the
Alley
Café.
»