Alliance Française de Limerick
Canva Workshops for French Teachers & Community Organisers
Client: Alliance Française de Limerick
Project Owner: Delphine Dunne, Office Administrator at Alliance Française de Limerick
Connection: Laurence Garric
Project Type: Digital Skills Training - 2-Part Canva Workshop Series
Timeline: February 2026 - March 2026
About the Client
Alliance Française de Limerick is the oldest Alliance Française in Ireland, originally established in 1944 as the French Circle by a group of French language enthusiasts in Limerick. By 1969, it became part of the worldwide Alliance Française network, and has been promoting French language and culture on a non-profit basis in the Limerick region ever since.
Based at 7 Pery Square in Limerick, Alliance Française de Limerick offers French language courses for all levels, taught by qualified native French speakers. Beyond language classes, the organisation plays an active role in Limerick's cultural and community life, including its long-standing connection with the Limerick-Quimper twinning community.
The introduction to Alliance Française came through Laurence Garric, who had previously worked with me on the Limerick Quimper Tree Festival project. That existing relationship opened the door to this new collaboration.
The Challenge
Alliance Française de Limerick needed support in building confidence and consistency in creating visual content for promoting their courses, cultural events, and community activities. Their teachers and organisers were regularly involved in promoting language classes, workshops, cultural events, and community initiatives, but they were running into a few key challenges.
Low confidence with digital tools. Some participants had very limited technical skills and little to no experience using design platforms like Canva. The idea of creating visual content felt intimidating rather than accessible.
Inconsistent and time-consuming content creation. Without a structured approach or reusable templates, creating posters and social media visuals was often done from scratch. This led to inefficiencies and inconsistent branding across different materials.
No clear workflow for planning content. There was no system for preparing visuals in advance for upcoming courses or events, which meant promotion was often reactive rather than planned.
A need for practical, hands-on guidance. Rather than theory, the group needed a supportive, beginner-friendly environment where they could learn by doing and apply skills directly to their real materials.
There wasn't a single urgent trigger, but rather an ongoing need to improve how they promote their programmes in a more confident, structured, and visually consistent way.
The Approach
I delivered a two-part Canva workshop series in a hybrid format (in-person and online) to a group of 8 participants with a wide range of technical abilities. The sessions were designed to take participants from complete beginners to confident, independent content creators.
Session 1: Foundations & Confidence Building
The first session focused on building confidence with Canva fundamentals, assuming no prior experience and supporting participants at very different skill levels. We covered:
Getting started with Canva - creating accounts, navigating the interface, and understanding the home screen, templates, and editor
Working with templates - how to search for relevant templates, choose the right format (social media post, poster, etc.), and customise templates instead of starting from scratch
Basic design editing - editing and formatting text, changing colours and fonts, and replacing images using Canva's library or uploads
Simple layout and design principles - improving readability through spacing and alignment, and understanding basic text hierarchy (headlines vs body text)
Introduction to dynamic content - adding short video elements, using text overlays, and creating simple captions
The session was highly practical, with a strong emphasis on learning by doing. Participants created their own designs during the session, and I dedicated time to individual support and questions throughout.
Session 2: Templates, Strategy & On-Brand Content
The second session focused on helping participants move from basic skills to creating practical, reusable content tailored to their real needs. We worked with examples directly relevant to Alliance Française, including:
Event promotion materials - posters and social media graphics for cultural events like workshops and movie nights
Course promotion content - visuals for upcoming language classes and enrolment periods
Reusable social media templates - designs that could be easily adapted for different announcements
A key focus was on creating templates rather than one-off designs, so participants could save time and maintain consistency going forward.
We also introduced simple but effective ways to keep visuals consistent: using the same colours and fonts across designs, structuring layouts in a recognisable way, and introducing the concept of Canva's Brand Kit for organisations managing multiple contributors.
Participants learned how to duplicate and adapt existing designs, create variations for different formats and messages, and maintain a consistent visual identity across different types of content.
We also touched on the importance of planning ahead, including thinking in terms of campaigns (announce, remind, final push), creating multiple visuals for a single event or course, and organising designs using folders and clear naming conventions.
The majority of the session was dedicated to guided, hands-on work. Participants improved their own designs from Session 1, created new templates they could continue using, and received individual support based on their skill level.
A Note for Future Sessions
If I could change one thing about how we delivered these workshops, it would be to have them recorded or run fully online so that participants could piggyback on what was covered whenever they need a refresher. That way, anyone who wants to revisit a technique or review a step has a resource to fall back on. It's something I'd love to build into future workshops with Alliance Française and other organisations.
The Result
The workshops were delivered to a group of 8 participants, with a mix of in-person and online attendees and a wide range of technical abilities. Despite some participants starting with very limited digital skills, by the end of the programme the transformation was clear.
All participants were able to navigate Canva confidently. They created their own posters, social media visuals, and reusable templates. And they gained a clearer understanding of how to plan and organise content for courses and events.
There was a clear shift from "I'm not sure how to use this" to "I can create something useful for our organisation."
The response to the workshops was very positive. Alliance Française shared an official 5-star review on my Google Business Profile. LinkedIn posts about the workshops received multiple supportive comments and engagement, including a repost from Michelle Daly-Hayes, President of the Board of Directors. During the sessions themselves, participants were actively asking questions, experimenting, and building on their skills in real time.
Beyond the skills gained, the workshops helped build confidence, independence, and a more structured approach to creating content. Participants left with ready-to-use templates tailored to their needs, and the organisation now has a stronger foundation for consistent, on-brand visual communication.
Perhaps the strongest indicator of success is what came next: there is already interest in further workshops, particularly around planning and content strategy. The collaboration continues.
Key Highlights
8 participants trained across 2 hybrid sessions (in-person + online)
Participants went from complete beginners to confidently creating on-brand content
Practical outputs: posters, social media graphics, and reusable templates created during sessions
Covered event promotion, course promotion, and social media content
Introduced Brand Kit concepts and campaign planning (announce, remind, final push)
5-star Google Business review from the organisation
Further workshops already in discussion
On the Ground
I delivered both sessions in person at Alliance Française de Limerick. The first session brought together a fantastic group with a real mix of abilities. Some were complete beginners, and there were lots of great questions and plenty of hands-on experimenting throughout. Seeing people gain confidence with digital tools is always the best part.
It was also lovely to reconnect with familiar faces from the Limerick-Quimper twinning community, which added a personal dimension to the project.
By the second session, the energy had shifted. The group had built on their confidence from week one and were starting to shape practical, on-brand content they could continue using long after the workshop. It was wonderful to see that progression happen in real time.
Michelle Daly-Hayes, President of the Board of Directors at Alliance Française de Limerick, stopped by during session two and captured some lovely moments from the workshop.
Working with this inspiring group of French teachers and community organisers was a genuine pleasure. Their enthusiasm for learning and openness to new tools made both sessions enjoyable and rewarding. There seems to be an appetite for more, and I would absolutely love to continue supporting their digital confidence and planning in future workshops.
What The Client Said
“Nada came to our organisation for a series of marketing workshops, mostly to teach our teachers how to use Canva. Nada's knowledge and enthusiasm have made those workshops incredibly enjoyable. We cannot wait for more!”
~ Alliance Française de Limerick (via Google Business Review)