Here at Creative Recovery we are in the early stages of an exciting new project, UPLIFT Central Area: Growing Creativity!

UPLIFT Central Area: Growing Creativity, is an 18 month project which follows a series of successful pilot UPLIFT takeovers across the Central Area between 2019 - 2022. It has been co-designed alongside the Central Area team to realise a collective vision of a more creative, connected and healthier community in the Central Area of Barnsley.

The project focuses on three neighbourhood's across the Central area all identified for the health challenges and barriers to culture that they face. Working on the Summer Lane estate, Gilroyd estate and areas within Worsborough, this is an artist led project headed up by Creative Recovery’s Artist Developer, Charlie Barnes and People Grower, Lorna Szkliniarz. Together they will be working in collaboration with local residents, responding to the creative visions of each community to support them in their ideas to build community and feed into Barnsley’s wider cultural scene. This will also see partnership working from key partners including the Central Area Team (Barnsley BMBC), Berneslai Homes and Barnsley Libraries.

Work on the ground has begun with Lorna and Charlie meeting residents of all three neighbourhoods in a bid to find out what they need from their area and how the project might best work for them. Lorna tells us that even in these early consultations there seems to be a collective response across the board - a call for community, a nostalgic echo for things to be how they used to be. Speaking to residents of the Gilroyd estate it is clear to see their passion for the neighbourhood and their community, they are keen to preserve its identity and memory whilst simultaneously they wish to see the area grow, thrive. This is echoed across Worsborough with resident’s calling for togetherness and a sense of community. Similarly, in conversation with residents of the Summer Lane estate there’s a real endeavour for the estate to come together to help the estate grow.

These early conversations have offered up some valuable insights and we’ve seen great engagement and enthusiasm for the project so far. Meetings with local groups and residents are starting to see lots of creative ideas and exciting plans beginning to take shape and we’re looking forward to working with each community to realise their ambitions, all of which we’ll keep you posted on in a monthly blog!

So, if you’re a resident of Summer Lane, Gilroyd or Worsborough and would like to get involved or would like to hear more about the project, we’d love to hear from you! This is your community and your project!

To get in touch you can email, Lorna at: upliftpeoplegrower@gmail.com

or Charlie at: upliftartistdeveloper@gmail.com

We look forward to giving you an update in our next blog which will feature content from our creative open days and plans so far for each area.

In the meantime, we share the thoughts of one of our lovely residents from the Summer Lane estate:

“I feel really optimistic about plans for the neighbourhood. It feels really positive.'”

UPLIFT Central Area: Growing Creativity is a Creative Recovery project. It is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and the Central Area Council (Barnsley MBC), with support from partners, Berneslai Homes and Barnsley Libraries.