2023 funded projects
About our 2023 funded projects
Please find on this page a list of the funded grants from Culture Grants 2023. They are arranged by project type in categories.
In 2023 we were very proud to support 45 projects. This infographic (PDF) (accessible version) shows some of the successes from Culture Grants 2023.
Community Events and Festivals
- Bless Community Support held a one-day creative bees workshop for primary-aged children
- Darrington Village Field (PDF) (accessible) ran Darrington Feast and Fayre Festival 2023. The day included children’s activities and musical acts
- Five Towns Christian Fellowship held Five Towns Community Day. An all-age celebration in Pontefract Park
- Our House Wakefield ran a year-long programme of cultural activity. It included monthly creative workshops and open mic nights
- Portobello Community Forum (PDF) (accessible) led a12-week project for families. It involved storytelling and creative responses to gardening
- Portobello Community Forum ran Portobello Gala 2023. It provided a full day of entertainment, performances, and crafts
- St Catherine's Church Centre ran Community Coronation Celebration Weekend. It featured arts and craft stalls and music performances
- Wakefield Pride hosted many artists and acts for Wakefield Pride 2023
Crafts
- Claire Walker (PDF) (accessible) ran six community yarn making and weaving workshops
- The Crafty Creatives ran 6 craft workshops with their women’s cancer support group
- The Prince of Wales Hospice ran Friday afternoon craft group sessions in Pontefract for their service users
- Wakefield District Sight Aid ran a series of free and inclusive art workshops for their service users
Heritage
- Age UK Wakefield delivered an oral histories project with older people from communities in Castleford
- Empath Action CIC ran a project focusing on Alice Gostick, teacher to Henry Moore and other artists in Castleford. They ran creative workshops and created and performed a new play. They also installed a new blue plaque dedicated to Alice and created a zine of their research
- Featherstone Rovers Foundation ran a year-long project with local schools. The sessions explored local coal mining heritage and Featherstone Rovers RLFC history
- Harrison Architectural Heritage Ltd delivered a heritage research project. It focused on the built and social heritage of Eastmoor housing estate
- National Trust - Nostell ran a community recipe and social history project. They created a new community recipe book and exhibition
- Pontefract Civic Society ran a full programme of over 50 events in Pontefract for Heritage Open Days 2023
- Stanley Residents Group created a new Stanley Heritage Trail map with Rhubarb Design House
- Wakefield Civic Society produced a new Blue Plaque guidebook
- Wakefield Civic Society created 4 new self-led walking guides focused on Wakefield heritage
Literature
- Community Media CIC delivered free workshops on content creation, creative writing, and journalism
Music
- Featherstone Male Voice Choir celebrated their 60th Anniversary with a special concert at Wakefield Cathedral
- Go Pop CIC ran a participatory song writing project for women from Wakefield who have barriers to cultural engagement
- Long Division CIC ran the second annual free festival ‘Wakefield Live’. It included a city centre open air and solar powered stage
- Pontefract Choral Society held a 150th Anniversary celebration concert with Wakefield Festival Chorus and local school children
- The Bandwidth Project ran a community performance group with musicians with learning differences and disabilities
- The Community Choir Wakefield (PDF) (accessible) performed at WDH coffee mornings across the district
- Wakefield Music Collective (PDF) (accessible) ran Clarence Park Festival 2023. It included 22 bands and poetry writing workshops for young people
Performing arts
- Love 2 Act created a Makaton performance with children and young people
- Millennium Community Hub CIC delivered high-quality touring theatre performances. In partnership with Red Ladder Theatre
- Shazia Ashraf ran performing arts workshops. They were for women from a lower socioeconomic status, minority, refugee and asylum seeker communities
Visual art and sculpture
- Andy Singleton delivered ‘Internal’, a large-scale immersive visual arts installation
- Blossom Training and Development CIC held a series of women’s self-defence and art workshops
- Kirstie Williams explored Wakefield’s textile heritage using sustainable printmaking processes. The project resulted in an exhibition at The Art House
- Pontefract Civic Society along with Pontefract Art Club ran a Pontefract Schools Art Trail
- Portobello Craft and Camera ran sessions with a giant pin-hole camera in Pontefract Valley Gardens. They created life-sized portraits for exhibitions
- Sustain Wakefield service users created a new mural focused on the themes of love and pride
- Sustain Wakefield service users created an obelisk sculpture about their family mining memories. It was displayed at the National Coal Mining Museum
- Suzie Cross created a new sound sculpture and ran a Wellbeing weekend at Anglers Country Park
- Tony Wade ran participatory workshops from a canal barge. He created new work exploring Wakefield’s landscape heritage