2024 funded projects
About our 2024 funded projects
We were very pleased to have supported 81 projects as part of Our Year - Wakefield District 2024. Please find on this page a list of the Culture Grants projects supported in 2024. They are arranged by project theme categories.
Community events and festivals
- Agbrigg Women’s Circle ran Apna Des South Asian Culture Day Family Day to celebrate the rich cultural diversity of the South Asian community through music, dance, food and art
- Appletree Community Group ran a pilot lantern festival in Appletree Community Garden
- Friends of Outwood Park held Picnic in the Park 2024. It included performances from the Lofthouse 2000 brass band.
- Glasshoughton and Redhill Environment Action Team (GREAT) ran their 20th Annual Fun Day. It included free arts activities including circus, henna and dance workshops
- Love 2 Act held Arts and Culture Day, celebrating their 10-year anniversary with the local community. Including free creative workshops for families
- Newmillerdam Community and Conservation Association ran a Midsummer Community Celebration Day. A free family event which included music performances and creative activities
- One Ummah Community CIC hosted a celebration event for women. Sharing Sudanese, Syrian and Kurdish cultures
- Progressive Talent CIC ran Fusion Fest 2024, an African and Caribbean cultural celebration event, With exhibitions, music, dance, and fashion show
- Salvation Army (Castleford) worked with the Hong Kong community to run a one-day event celebrating Chinese culture and customs for the Lunar New year
- Smawthorne Welfare Action Team ran Smawthorne Gala with fun activities for all.
- Wrenthorpe Community Association offered several events for all ages. Including Wrenthorpe Gala, Halloween and Christmas events
Crafts
- Mindful Movers ran 4x creative sessions for their members and families. They held a final exhibition celebration
- Friends of The Hut ran themed creative cooking classes at The Hut in Airedale
- Grow Wakefield offered weekly creative sessions. They used nature-based resources and sustainable materials
- Inspiring Community CIC ran a series of weekly creative workshops. Delivered by an art therapist, focused on art and journalling
- Kinsley Craft Workshop ran 4 creative workshops for participants to gain new skills. The group exhibited their work in community spaces
- Lakeside Creative Arts Centre offered festive craft workshops.
- Lo-Fi Alchemists ran 2 courses exploring personal stories and local heritage. They used accessible lo-fi materials and creative activities
- MHA Communities Wakefield and District created a creative calendar keepsake with service users
- Open Country’s ‘Wild about Water’ offered a full year programme of creative outdoor activities. It enabled local disabled residents to enjoy blue spaces around the district
- Pontefract Calligraphers worked with tutors to run 3x calligraphy workshops. They also held open-access beginners taster sessions for the local community
- Portobello Community Forum’s ‘Portobello Creates 2024’ was a full year programme. It included creative workshops and events at Portobello Community Centre
- Seaglass Collective ran creative workshops for adopted children and their families
- The Crafty Creatives - Cancer Support CIC ran 16 creative workshops. Participants explored their Cancer journey. They held a final exhibition
- Wakefield Hospice delivered creative sessions exploring wellbeing with local communities
- Well Women Centre offered silk painting workshops for service users. They created a final display at Wakefield Cathedral
- Wilderness Adventures CIC ran 6x monthly journaling workshops. For teenagers with their parents or guardians
Film
- Frankie Mazzotta will interview local residents in South Elmsall and South Kirkby. Frankie will create a short documentary about the community. It will focus on solidarity around the 1984/5 Miners' Strikes.
Heritage
- Alfie Norris developed ‘Culture of Coal: Wakefield’s Stories’. This 6-episode podcast looks at coal mining's influence on Wakefield district
- Castleford Civic Society developed a new Cemetery Trail and walking tour for Castleford
- Friends of Castleford Library ran a DIY pinhole camera workshop. Participants captured photos of buildings in Castleford. The photographs are held permanently at Castleford Library
- Naomi Aderonke Crompton researched Cistercian ware of Wrenthorpe and ran 2x free clay workshops for the public. Naomi created ceramics for display in Wakefield Museum
- Russell Brammer ran Backbone of the Nation exhibition at Queens Mill, Castleford. It marked the 40th anniversary of the Miners’ Strike
- South Hiendley Parish Council worked with Felkirk History Group. They created a short heritage film with local communities and a history website
- The Friends of Horbury Library worked with One to One Development Trust. They created an online, interactive, gallery of The Horbury Tapestry
- The Friends of Waterton's Wall ran a creative Lime Mortar Workshop. Participants gained skills to help future renovations of Waterton's Wall in Walton
- The Parish of St Peter and St Leonard, Horbury, with St John, Horbury Bridge hosted a weekend celebration. It marked the 100th anniversary of the death of Sabine Baring-Gould
- Wakefield and District Society for Deaf People created a permanent heritage display
- Wakefield Railway Modellers Society researched the historic Tom Puddings boats. They created a scale model diorama display for communities
- Yew Tree Youth Theatre worked with young people. They creatively explored the lives of residents at Stanley Royd Hospital
Literature
- Black Horse Poets ran a weekend writing festival. It included workshops and performances from local and regional writers
- Getting Gobby in the Lobby ran poetry reading sessions. Participants read poetry aloud to develop self-confidence
- Getting Gobby in the Lobby offered a series of spoken word performance evenings and 3 writing workshops. They held a final performance and published a new anthology
Music
- Charlie Wells created a new soundscape with local communities. There was a final performance with live music
- Featherstone Male Voice Choir held a free drop-in celebration event in Pontefract. It featured short performances from local choirs and singing groups
- Wakefield Concert Society held their 60th anniversary concert at Wakefield Cathedral
- Wakefield Music Collective ran Clarence Unleashed Festival 2024
- Wakefield Quaker Meeting offered 8 creative drumming workshops. For families and individuals who were seeking asylum, refugees, and the wider community
- Zambezi Sounds CIC ran participatory walking events for the local community. These travelled along Waterton’s Wall in Walton. They created a new song inspired by discussions on the walks
Performing arts
- Actual Size Theatre Company ran music workshops with people living with dementia. They created a new performance centred around music and memories
- Encore Theatre Company ran 5 performances of Sleeping Beauty. It was a locally written version of the pantomime
- Natalie Bellingham performed a new production of ‘Look After Your Knees’ to Wakefield district audiences at CAPA College. Part of a wider tour in the North
- New College Pontefract worked with students to develop a new performance. It explored the heritage of Pontefract liquorice. Final performances were held the college and in local primary schools
- Story Trails created a new installation focusing on 10x local legends. They held a tour of performances around the district
- Spectrum People CIC ran a week of non-verbal movement and dance workshops. They were aimed at older people and those living with dementia. In partnership with the Dutch Cultural Participation Fund (DCPF)
Visual art and sculpture
- Abigail Forster ran 8 creative multimedia workshops. They explored Wakefield district's hidden gems. A final exhibition was held at Chantry Chapel in Wakefield
- Bijan Amini-Alavijeh developed new large-scale sculptures. It resulted in an 8-week exhibition at The Art House and workshops
- Claire Walker worked with the local community and schools in Altofts to create silk paintings. These highlighted local landmarks
- CoActive Arts ran a varied project. It included creation of mixed media artworks and exhibitions. They also held performances, and showed a large-scale lantern artworkk
- Crigglestone Parish Council offered collage workshops to the local community. Final works formed a public display and celebration
- Denby Grange Collieries Athletic Club worked with the local community to create a new mural for their community space
- Friends of Fitzwilliam Station and Edgelands Arts developed a new mural for Fitzwilliam Station bridge with the local community
- Friends of Friarwood Valley Gardens worked with a graffiti artist. They engaged young people to create a new public mural
- Friends of Normanton Library worked with Edgelands Arts to create a new mural display in the Normanton Library garden space with local schools.
- Jen Watson - Yorkshire Artist created a multimedia indoor mural artwork at Lightwaves Community Centre with communities across the district
- Michelle Duxbury and Sam Metz worked with 4 disabled artists based at The Art House. The group exhibited new work exploring landscape
- Pontefract Civic Society worked with local schools. They created artworks and an exhibition around the theme of ‘Friendship’
- Second Chance Headway Centre ran creative sessions with service users. A final exhibition shared their artworks
- The Addy worked with Studio Brett to develop a new mural with families and children that use the centre
- The Friends of Sandal Library worked with artist Beth Morgan. They created a new mural for the Sandal Library Dementia Garden with local communities