Summer Lane

On the Summer Lane estate we've established a planning group who have shown great enthusiasm for the project and are very active in steering their ideas. Their aim for the estate is ‘To bring people together and help the community grow’ which they were keen to reinforce in a logo which they have brilliantly designed. This was printed onto eye catching postcards and hand delivered to every household on the estate inviting them to come along to UPLIFT events and activities.

We kicked off with the ‘Live Lounge’, a lovely session which saw people come together over cake and live music to chat and share their creative ideas. Residents were treated to some live music from Creative Recovery participant, Allan, a self taught musician who lives locally. Allan wowed residents with his keyboard skills, a real talent!

Residents have also been busy at creative workshops where they've been preparing for their 'Virtual Campfire' event which will take place at the Creative Recovery Centre on Prospect Street Centre on Tuesday 10th October, 6-8.30pm.

This free event will feature an evening of music and storytelling around the campfire with hot chocolates and treats. All Summer Lane residents will receive a warm welcome. We hope to see you there!

On the sessions so far one resident from Summer Lane told us:

"I've been coming to the meet ups and sessions and I'm really enjoying it. It's so friendly and it's brilliant to get to know new people. We've all lived on the estate for so many years and didn't know anybody. You'd pass people by and not talk to each other. Now you'll see people and say hello and have a chat."

Our final update from Summer Lane includes the set up of a new dog walking group where residents can meet up and have a chin wagging time with their neighbours and their dogs! You’ll be sure to spot the group who will be wearing illustrated high vis vests designed and made themselves! The group meets every Thursday at 5.30pm, outside Creative Recovery Centre on Prospect Street, with all resident's welcome to come along.

A round of a paws for such a great initiative! We wish you all a pawsome time!

Worsborough

From early work on the ground in Worsborough, the New England estate was identified as the focus area for our project, as it was felt that it is an area with the most need to connect people and spread some creative fun within the community.

At New England some residents have expressed a little apprehension in getting out and about and perhaps a wariness of 'artistic' endeavours. Bingo is a particular favourite of many residents and has proved a popular choice, therefore we’ve decided to combine bingo with creativity and will be running a series of sessions where people can come together socially, play some bingo and also get stuck into some creative crafting. Pieces of art will be created to share with neighbours who might feel isolated with a friendly message to show connectivity.

The Barrow Club have been incredibly generous and supportive of the project, spreading the word and offering their premises for free. The first session took place last week and was a great success. Special thanks to one of our Creative Recovery volunteers, Maxine who did a sterling job as bingo caller! The participants really enjoyed making autumnal ornaments and having the opportunity to talk about the activities they would like to see in the area, with the current forerunner being line dancing! Watch this space!

We hope to welcome along lots of lovely residents to the Barrow Club for our sessions every Monday 2.30 – 4.30pm and we hope that those who come along will enjoy getting to know new people and with a little direction from us, feel empowered to make plans for adventurous creative events going forward.

Gilroyd

At Gilroyd we've been working with the local history group who are very keen to preserve the heritage and memory of the area by recording and sharing their stories about living on the estate.

Inspired by this, we are developing a large scale creative archiving project where we'll be capturing resident's stories in a variety of ways such as film, photography, audio recording, written word, poetry and performance. We are currently recruiting residents to share their stories, so please get in touch if you'd like to get involved.