Cultural charity awarded £25,000 grant to deliver free workshops and artistic activities

A CULTURAL charity has helped deliver a wide range of workshops as part of a partnership to increase cultural activity in Welcoming Places across South Tyneside.

The Cultural Spring Charity was awarded £25,000 thanks to players of People’s Postcode Lottery to work with a cultural partnership which includes artistic community interest company Creative Seed, Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums (TWAM), Groundwork South & North Tyneside and South Tyneside Council’s Public Health team and supported by South Tyneside Council’s Cultural Service.

The free workshops and artistic activity have been delivered at a range of venues across the borough since Autumn last year.

Catherine Scott, Development Worker with The Cultural Spring Charity, said: “The project has been a big success, and the partnership has provided workshops attended by hundreds of local people. This success wouldn’t be possible without funds raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, awarded by Postcode Neighbourhood Trust.

“South Tyneside Council asked if we could help support their Welcoming Places project, and thanks to the £25,000 grant, we were able to deliver this work.

“Some of our workshops have been weekly, while others have been one-offs, and we’re very grateful to the venues and artists we’ve worked with – including Emma Sheridan, Rachel Brook and Rachelle Harrigan.”

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Each partner has been working with different venues and artists on the provision of workshops and activity. For instance, The Cultural Spring Charity worked with churches within the Parish of Jarrow and Simonside – St John the Baptist, St Simon’s and St Peter’s.

The charity has also been working with poet Rowan McCabe and comedian John Scott who’ve provided workshops for Everyturn Mental Health’s Kind Mind Community at the Big Local Jarrow venue.

Creative Seed has been providing craft workshops at South Shields landmark St Hilda’s Pit Head, while Groundwork has been delivering popular upcycling workshops at Grange Road Baptist Church in Jarrow.

Meanwhile, TWAM has been working on a project around South Shields Museum’s SCRAN!

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A history of food and drink in South Tyneside exhibition. Artists have worked with the museum to deliver workshops based around food and drink.

Catherine added: “What’s worked particularly well for us is that we’ve developed relationships with existing partners, venues and artists while forging new relationships with partners such as the Parish of Jarrow and Simonside. Meanwhile, we’ve managed to introduce new people, who we’ve not worked with before, to arts and culture, whether through creating new groups or working with existing ones.

“Participation in the workshops has led to increased confidence in people, and has helped others combat loneliness and isolation. The activity has been good for participants, artists and venues.”

The Cultural Spring Charity was established in 2020 to increase arts participation in South Tyneside and in Sunderland. It is a partner of The Cultural Spring consortium, which was launched in 2014 and is funded by Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places project.