It’s a little under two years since our UPLIFT Central Area: Growing Creativity project began it’s work on the ground and as we near the end of the year, the project reaches it’s final stages. Here is a run down of all the activity that’s been happing in the final phase of the project across the three targeted area’s of Summer Lane, Worsbrough and Gilroyd.

Summer Lane

The latter stages of the Summer Lane project was all about immersing ourselves in mosaics!

Thanks to funding secured from the Barnsley Pride of Place, the first workshop took place in June led by mosaic artist, Coralie Turpin Thomson. Residents got a chance to explore ideas and themes with Coralie for the design of three panels which would see pride of place on the walls of Creative Recovery on the Summer Lane estate. Two further workshops went ahead in July to further develop the ideas and to begin work on the mural.

In terms of the design, residents chose the sunflower to represent their sense of hopefulness and the vibrancy of their community, it is also believed that sunflowers turn towards each other to reflect light upon each other in darker times. Whether or not this is true (we don’t know!) it’s a wonderful illustration of how individuals support one another in rooted communities.

We were thrilled to see the fruits of the Summer Lane residents labour as the mosaic was installed onto the Creative Recovery building on the Summer Lane estate at the end of October. It’s a wonderful addition to the building, it acts as a reminder of this great project and the hope shared by this brilliant community.

Gilroyd

Throughout the project there appeared to be a consistent focus for the people of Gilroyd for the heritage and memory of the area to be preserved. This inspired an archiving project and led to the creation of ‘Gilroyd Life’, a magazine style community book, filled with stories, photos and memories shared by local residents, capturing the heart and soul of Gilroyd.

Working with the Dodworth and Gilroyd local history group, a history installation was held in the Summer at Dodworth Library which invited people to come and share their memories. Over the following few months many interviews were held with local residents which also feature in the book. Whilst words and images can tell a story, the artists on this project wanting to dive deeper and explore what life in Gilroyd also sounds like and so a series of soundscapes were created that readers can access via a QR code. Audio snapshots that bring everyday moments of Gilroyd to life!

‘Gilroyd Life’ was launched at the beginning of October at the Tea Pot Café in Gilroyd where it was brilliantly attended with lots of local residents coming to read and chat about the book, swapping of stories and sharing memories. Janet, the café’s owner, treated resident’s to lavender scones and delicious homemade sausage rolls with sage, with both the lavender and sage being picked from from the incredible, edible garden - a community garden next to the café where people can take whatever herbs they need - both of which recipes can be found in the book!

Artist, Rachel McGuin came along to capture special ‘youdle doodle’ portraits, a free little portrait for guests to take home. The book’s youngest contributor, Violet Askey, aged 8 who worked on one of the soundscapes was also in attendance as a representative of her school, Keresforth Primary. Violet collected a copy of the book, with each of her fellow pupils also receiving a copy, passing history onto the next generation.

On reflection of the day, UPLIFT’s artistic director, Helen Boutle says,

“It’s such a privilege to work in communities like Gilroyd, spreading the UPLIFT joy and celebrating amazing people, their passions and heart. I urge you to read a copy of ‘Gilroyd Life’ and visit the Creative Recovery Youtube channel to hear the wonderful Gilroyd soundscapes. Thanks to all the amazing contributors, and to Barnsley Central area team and Arts Council England for funding this amazing project. A special thanks also to Lorna Szkliniarz and Steph Cronin for your passion and creativity.”

The book launch was a joyous day that brought the community together, very much like the book itself. Copies are still available to collect, free of charge from the Tea Pot Café if you’d like to explore Gilroyd between the covers!

Worsbrough

The focus of the Worsbrough project turned to performance and storytelling. Working off the back of an idea of ‘Worsbrough’s Got Talent’, events were planned for Worsbough that would focus on artists getting on the ground and being visible in the local area to meet and chat with local residents to generate the material for performance. This formed the idea for ‘Worsbrough FolkTales’ a series of pop-up events across the area for artists to capture the stories of local people to feature in music, performance and poetry, all shared at a creative, community event titled ‘Worsbrough Folknight.’

The ’Folktales’ pop up events took place in August, as we kicked off with ‘Pop up in the Parking Lot’.
Pitching up outside Worsbough’s ASDA’s entrance with colourful tablecloths, bunting and a brightly coloured UPLIFT post box, we spoke to local shoppers. They shared their stories of Worsbrough with us over juice and cake whilst musician Ryan Lauder played acoustic music and jammed with shoppers!

Pitching up in Dale Park and Pavillion Community Centre we hosted our second event, ‘Pop up Picnic in the Park’. Performance artists, WE Great Ladies, joined us to interact with local residents to share stories with us. We connected with volunteers from the Pavillon community centre and participants at community group, She Shed as well as collaborating with Worsbrough Mill who brought the ‘Mill on Tour’ resources and tasty treats from the Millers Tea Rooms. Later in the day we popped down to Worsbrough Mill to meet more lovely folk and hear their local tales.

Lastly we had ‘Pop up Portraits of Worsbrough’ where UPLIFT artist, Helen Boutle led a wonderfully creative workshop in portrait collaging. We were joined by residents from the local care home, Ward Green Lodge and other local residents, refreshments were served, live music was played and stories collected. The colourful and creative portraits were used to form the design of a community teatowel that will be distributed around community groups in the area.

With all the ‘Folktales’ gathered our UPLIFT artists went away and worked their magic to bring these stories to life in a creative way at our ‘Worsbrough Folknight’ event in September. The portraits of worsbrough were on display as a wonderful backdrop and we had a fabulous evening with live music from Ryan Lauder whose set included the bespoke community song, the lyrics of which were taken from the conversations and stories captured at the pop up’s. We were once again joined by WE Great Ladies with the characters, Meryl and Beryl who performed a duologue: two Worsbrough women having a natter over the washing line! Once again the stories gathered at he pop ups created the dialogue for the script. Fun was also had as Meryl facilitated the room in creating a collective community poem about Worsbrough, which went like this!

‘Worsbrough’

Where the hell do all the U’s and O’s go?!!!

Why is it so flipping hard to spell Worsbrough!!!

Worsbrough willow tits.
Wet Woodlands.

Picnics on the banks of the canal with two small children.

Bread and jam sandwiches.
Corporation pop.

Knocking on doers and running away.

Worsbro’ and school
Bog flushes and rules.

I went to Worsbrough high school.

Can’t think of anything I learned there. Just liked the boys.

Climbed from bedroom window

and got dobbied by Dad’s friend having a drink in’t pub across road.

Rolling down Thicket hill on an old pram trolley we made.
Collecting Ben Shaw’s bottles to get some money to buy a record.

The first time I kissed a boy it was on Red Hills down by the canal.

We said we had been fishing.

I was quite the catch.

Worsbrough chippy. Peneth of chips and scraps. What a feast. 1970’s.

Annies tatty hash and pancake on a Sunday night after night out in Barrow Club!

Being told I (female) wasn’t allowed in the Elm Tree taproom in 1987.

Elm Tree pub, 1971. Underage pop and dance room.

I’m from Worsbrough. People here do sentences. Some get years!

I was wed in Worsbrough to a Barnsley lass. It was a Saturday, third of March.

“Where theres muck, there’s money” (Lord Docker)
“Housework is like threading beads with no knot in the end” (Lady Docker)

I had my first snog in Worsbrough!

I was wearing a leopard print top and spice girl wedges – it was the 90’s!

He later went out with one of my best friend’s for three years!

Got lost round Res, ended up by M1!

Get tha sen up to’ top rec at Worsbrough Common.

The gorgeous view will mek tha feel brand new!

The community tea towel is currently undergoing production, and Ryan is in the studio this week laying down a professional recording of the Worsbrough song which will be shared at future events and celebrations. In the meantime, you can catch a sneak peak of Ryan's performance here:

It was a wonderful evening and a brilliant celebration of the Worsbrough community! But don’t just take our word for it, here’s what local residents had to say:

“What an incredible evening. Thoughtful and creative ways for bringing local stories and locations to life. Well done team and thank you for a fun filled event!”

“So warm and welcoming. Great way to creatively share stories and memories.”

“Phenomenal, wonderful, interesting, engaging, funny, entertaining, creative! Blown away with the creativity and thought that has gone into all the UPLIFT events! Just brilliant!”

We have recently submitted the final evaluation of this project, a project that was designed to realise a collective vision of a more creative, connected and healthier community in the Central Area of Barnsley.

Upon evaluation people commented that they felt listened to and taken seriously, they felt welcomed and new connections were made within communities with a chance to get to know new people who they may have seen in their area but never spoken to before.

There were comments about feeling more at ease in their area and the activities providing something to look forward to. In some cases, people felt it had made them feel less depressed as they were able to get out of their house more.

People felt it was good to know that there were others within their community that felt like themselves and wanted change.

People described the project as a safe space and a chance to develop their own skills (through training) but also confidence to carry on voluntary work in the future. There was also just the enjoyment of taking part in activities and workshops, allowing them to be creative, meet with other people and be part of something.

There was a sense that the creative activities were more interesting to people and something that opened
up the conversations. People felt less intimidated than just joining a meeting as there was a reason to be there.

Those taking part also said they felt more connected with like-minded people in their area as well as learning more about what was happening and what they could be involved in within their community. The project provided people with motivation to do more, with Creative Recovery leading by example.

“You are the people who have done more in the 3 or 4 months I have known you than I have had from anyone else in the past 7 years”

The quote above is from a project participant and highlights that despite challenges faced during the lifetime of the project it has achieved what it intended do. That is artist driven, collaborative and targeted activities working with vulnerable communities who experience culture and health disparities across the three neighbourhoods. The project has made a lasting difference to those who took part and the communities in which they live.

We’d like to thank our funders and partners: Arts Council England, Central Area Team, Barnsley Council, Berneslai Homes, Barnsley Libraries. Thank you also to our amazing artists for sharing their talents and commitment to this project and a special thanks to all those who have contributed and taken part.