The Portsmouth and Southsea Consortium was founded in 2014 to help showcase the creativity, originality and skill of artisans, artists, crafters, designers and makers in and around the Portsmouth and Southsea area, as well as the keen curatorial eye of its vintage sellers.The Consortium aims to find and facilitate opportunities for the above to:1. Sell their handmade items at markets or in shops and galleries, making an active contribution to the local creative economy.2. Participate in activities within the local community, developing and enhancing the relationships between residents and visitors, and creative practitioners.3. Collaborate with individuals from their local area to solve problems and close skills gaps, creating and maintaining networks of long-lasting and meaningful professional relationships.4. Undertake fairly-paid freelance work related to their chosen creative discipline(s).5. ‘Pay it forward' to the next generation of creative individuals by sharing the benefit of their education, experience and knowledge in an objective and pragmatic manner.The Consortium is both a project and a community, and entirely voluntary in nature. It's a part-time effort born from its co-founders' full-time passion for the creative industries, and paid for by the fruits of their 9 to 5 grinds.There is also a Portsmouth and Southsea Consortium Etsy team, for those sellers in the local area with an Etsy shop. The Consortium seeks to engage with the varied opportunities Etsy offers its sellers, as well as helping develop a community of participants who advise, encourage and promote one another.