Courtesy of The Workshops Facebook page A scriptwriting workshop in Diwan, another one at AlKotob Khan and a photography course at CIC – going all over town to sustain and develop your interests can diminish the pleasure you derive from it. The Workshops is here to provide you with a compromise; make one trip to Maadi and have all your workshops in one place. The Workshops' space on a quiet street in Maadi comes complete with an outdoor patio and a mini-cafe. The idea behind The Workshops is to provide an environment for participants to learn and expand their interests, all in one place. The facility provides quality training for anyone with a passion for a variety of things, including culture, art and business. “The idea behind The Workshops was a result of not finding a place where you could find everything easily," said Rasha Abo Elsoud, who co-founded The Workshops with Mohamed ElGohary in October 2012. “At The Workshops, you do not have to wait for the next announcement of every workshop at different venues because everything is at one place, you can find all your interests at once," she said. The workshops that are organised are provided by freelance instructors who have an interest in sharing their knowledge with others, said Abo Elsoud. “Sometimes I have to make sure their vision is in line with ours or see a demonstration to check for quality," she added. The workshops include everything from script and creative writing, to mosaic and sculpting. Others focus on professional interests such as human resources, electronic communication and e-media. There are some workshops that are targeted toward niche audiences like professional photography, architectural design, journalism, interior design, crochet and drawing. The Workshops manages to fit in a couple of offerings that include motivational workshops and musical instruments like piano, violin and guitar. In addition to the wide range of offerings, The Workshops is interested in cultural initiatives. “It is like a form of community service, we are very interested in culture and art. We organise film nights and a regular book club. All the cultural events we host are free to attend and anyone can partake," said Abo Elsoud. That also goes for the workshops, which are accessible to everyone, but their prices depend on the workshop itself. Abo Elsoud said that sometimes the place strives to offer free one-day workshops, “we have some workshops that run for a day or a few days that are free to attend." The Workshops includes a mini-cafe where you can get your work done via their free wi-fi, a garden, and a meeting room open to anyone who wants to use it. With an eclectic mix of workshops and cultural events, The Workshops has an ambitious idea behind it and an even more ambitious goal to work for, as Abo Elsoud puts it half-jokingly, “we want to expand and open in different places in the city, across Egyptian governorates and even the Arab World."
