Every other month, Creative Lives runs a competiton for creative groups to win a £250/€290 micro-grant.

We do this as a way of crowd-sourcing knowledge to share with the wider community - and to recognise some of the great work being carried out in our creative communities.

Our 'Partnerships and Collaborations' competition asked for good examples of how, when groups get together, they can achieve more than they could on their own.

We received lot of interesting entries, full of examples and ideas of how groups can partner-up for the greater good. So a big thank you to everyone who entered - many of your examples will be used in our upcoming toolkit.

Our winners this time were London-based community arts group Made in Merton and Little ARK, which upcycles deadstock and fabric waste.

"Our paths crossed at the local scrapstore," explains Portia Dadley of Made in Merton."We joined forces for Print + Stitch Together, a series of blockprint and sewing workshops. Participants in the blockprint workshops run by Made in Merton created patterned fabric that was then turned into functional textiles, such as tablecloths and tea towels, by participants in the sewing workshops run by Little ARK."

Little ARK provided the sewing equipment, while Made in Merton has a great collection of woodblocks and printing inks - which led to the perfect partnership.

"By pooling our resources and commitment, we increased our reach and delivered a project with lasting benefits for participants," says Portia. "People took pride and pleasure in what they made together, and the project helped foster a sense of community."

Visit their websites to learn more about Made in Merton and Little ARK.