enJOY arts awarded National Lottery and Trafford Housing Trust funding for new project, “Mothers in Crisis: Then and Now.”

Posted on February 24, 2022 by enjoyarts

enJOY arts has received a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £86,697 plus a further £10,000 from Trafford Housing Trust for a new creative heritage project “Mothers in Crisis: Then and Now” in Trafford, Greater Manchester. Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, the project focuses on mothers’ experiences during the Pandemic.

Covid has been cited as the biggest crisis the world has experienced since WWII. Focusing on experiences from WWII comparing and contrasting this to the Pandemic, “Mothers in Crisis: Then and Now” will look at how mothers have responded and adapted, showing resilience in times of crises.

Supported through The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project will enable mothers from Trafford, to share their experiences and re-story what has happened in this pandemic, placing it in a context of resilience as they learn about the experiences of mothers in the past. We want mothers of this pandemic to share their voices, make their mark and to capture living history.

Working with artists and volunteers, participants will creatively explore heritage in new and exciting ways. enJOY arts will work in partnership with Stretford Public Hall (SPH) People’s History Museum (PHM) and Working Class Movement Library (WCML), culminating in a performance, exhibition and digital archive.

enJOY arts CIC is an award winning community organisation based in Manchester, working across the North West. For us, the power of the arts lies in their ability to uplift, empower and bring people together. We deliver creative heritage projects with community groups, successfully engaging those who are hard to reach. Working in partnership with heritage venues, to explore untold histories from a female perspective, finding common ground between our participants and the heritage they are exploring.

Commenting on the award, Erica Adkins, Project Manager, said “We are thrilled to have received this support thanks to National Lottery Players. As an organisation run by working mothers we feel passionately that a creative heritage project for Mothers is needed now more than ever before. We are really looking forward to exploring stories of mothers’ resilience from the past, documenting recent stories from mothers of the pandemic and sharing these with the wider public.”

Louise Sutherland, Senior Engagement Manager for the North of England at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We are delighted to support enJOY arts in researching and recording the stories highlighting the resilience and innovation shown by mothers in times of crises through this project. Mothers play an incredibly important role in our heritage and this grant, made possible by the National Lottery players, will make sure that these voices and memories of the community can be heard for generations to come.”

Young Parents go online…

Posted on October 8, 2020 by enjoyarts

Since 2018 we’ve been working with the wonderful Talkshop to deliver creative projects with young parents in Trafford thanks to funding from Trafford Housing Trust and National Lottery Community Fund.

Whilst we love meeting in person we’ve not let Covid stop the creativity and have been getting creative on zoom with ideas for sensory play at home and discussions around mental health as let’s be honest Covid has been a challenge for us all.

Uncooked rice is great for sensory play…

Put some in a balloon to make your own percussion!

We hope it’s not too long before we can be back doing session face to face but for now it’s been lovely seeing some new faces along with our regular young parents online.

New partnership project for 2020…

Posted on November 1, 2019 by enjoyarts

We’re teaming up with the RNCM who has received a grant of over £60,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to support a project celebrating the 100th anniversary of one of its founding institutions.

Established in 1920 by Hilda Collens and later steered by Ida Carroll, the Northern School of Music (NSM) trained generations of young musicians and music teachers before merging with the Royal Manchester College of Music in 1973 to form today’s RNCM.

Made possible by money raised by National Lottery players, A 20/20 Legacy: the centenary of the Northern School of Music will tell the story of the school through free public events and workshops and an online archive sharing the memories, experiences, images and records of those who studied and taught there.

Heather Roberts, RNCM Archivist, said: ‘The Northern School of Music is such an integral part of our history, and we want to celebrate that as much as possible throughout its centenary year.’

The project, which received £62,800 in total, will feature a musical telling of some of the amazing stories uncovered, designed and delivered in collaboration with us enJOY arts, singer-songwriter Claire Mooney and the Herizons Creative Women’s Group.

To learn more and to see how you can get involved, email Heather at heather.roberts@rncm.ac.uk or call 0161 907 5211.

Her Hidden Histories Digital Archive

Posted on March 8, 2019 by enjoyarts

As today marks International Women’s Day we thought it would be a great opportunity to share with you the wonderful digital archive that was created as part of our Her Hidden Histories project. The digital archive tells the story of our project through photos, videos and the voices of the young women who took part… follow the link and start exploring Her Hidden Histories

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This archive was developed by the young women who took part in our project, delivered in partnerhship with Digital Women’s Archive North (DWAN) with archive support from Heather Roberts. It was designed and built by Mike Ash.
Her Hidden Histories was made possible with public funding from Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England and The Granada Foundation.

Turning Tides: First in the Fight – upcoming performance at Victoria Baths

Posted on May 2, 2018 by enjoyarts

Turning Tides Flyer

We’re busy gearing up for ‘Turning Tides: First in the Fight’ – an innovative promenade performance devised by young women and inspired by true stories of women’s fight for the vote, over 100 years ago…

This performance is the latest phase in the ‘Her Hidden Histories’ project, which we have been running in partnership with small heritage venues across Manchester since the beginning of last year. Earlier phases saw young women from Wythenshawe devise and perform ‘In the Driving Seat’ at the Museum of Transport (June 2017), telling stories of the first women to work in the transport industry and young women from Gorton devise and perform ‘Top of the Bill’ at the Greater Manchester Police Museum (July 2017), looking at pioneering women in policing. Now both groups – from Newall Green High School and Cedar Mount Academy – are coming together to pool their knowledge, skills and ideas and turn their focus to the battle for women’s suffrage.

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In this phase of the project, the groups have visited and taken inspiration from the collections at the People’s History Museum, the Pankhurst Centre and the Working Class Movement Library. They have taken part in music workshops, being supported to write their own rousing and anthemic songs by singer-songwriter and long time enJOY arts collaborator Claire Mooney. They have also taken part in dance sessions where Ruth Jones and Trixi Bold have helped them to choreograph some wonderful movement sequences.

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The performances of ‘Turning Tides: First in the Fight’ will take place on Thursday 31^st May at 7pm and Friday 1^st June at 3pm and 7pm at Victoria Baths. Tickets are free but, as this is a promenade performance exploring the whole of this incredible historic building, audience numbers are limited so booking is essential.

‘Her Hidden Histories’ is funded by grants from Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England and the Granada Foundation.

For more information please get in touch!

info@enjoy-arts.org.uk @enJOY_arts

Her Hidden Histories visit the People’s History Museum

Posted on March 29, 2018 by enjoyarts

Our Her Hidden Histories groups had a fantastic time visiting the People’s History Museum on Monday afternoon. Young women from Cedar Mount Academy and Newall Green High School came together for the first time in this phase of the project to gather inspiration for their upcoming performances at Victoria Baths in May. The performances will explore the role of everyday working women in the struggle for the vote and the groups came away buzzing with ideas!

Now we’re gearing up for more visits and creative workshops in the Easter Holidays: we’ll be heading to the Pankhurst Centre and the Working Class Movement Library as well as trying our hand at some music and dance. We can’t wait!

Her Hidden Histories – Centenary Celebration

Posted on February 6, 2018 by enjoyarts

As today marks 100 years since the first UK women were granted the right to vote, it’s about time for an update on our Her Hidden Histories project!

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Last summer saw two groups of young women, from Wythenshawe and Gorton, create some fantastic performances at both the Museum of Transport and the Greater Manchester Police Museum. ‘In the Driving Seat’ told stories of the first women to work on trams and buses, largely owing to the absence of men during the First World War. ‘Top of the Bill’ explored experiences of the first women in policing during a similar period, many of whom had also been on the other side of the law as suffragettes. Both performances enjoyed a rousing inter-generational musical finale, thanks to our fantastic Herizons group!

This year, we are bringing both groups of young women together to create another ambitious performance at the stunning Victoria Baths. ‘Turning Tides: First in the Fight’ will weave together the stories uncovered in the previous two performances and celebrate the role of everyday women in the struggle for suffrage. Exact times are yet to be confirmed but there will be 3 chances to catch this exciting new piece, with an evening performance on Thursday 31st May and both a matinee and evening performance on Friday 1st June.

Watch this space for more details!

Herizons go ‘Live at Lyme’!

Posted on September 11, 2017 by enjoyarts

Legends of Lyme

Fancy something to look forward to as the nights draw in and the leaves begin to fall? How about a very special performance at National Trust’s Lyme by our Herizons Creative Women’s Group?

Legends of Lyme updated flyer

Legends of Lyme is an innovative devised piece, exploring the untold stories of women from Lyme’s Regency Era through drama and music: Meet Sarah Glave, the mother to Lyme’s illegitmate heir; Ellen Turner, the young woman at the heart of an abduction scandal; Ellen Jane Legh, a motherless girl who finds solace in daydreaming, and Maud Lowther, an accomplished musician ahead of her time. The stories and secrets of all these women will unfold against the atmospheric backdrop of Lyme’s Saloon on Saturday 30th September and Sunday 1st October, at 12pm and 3pm each day.

Legends of Lyme has been commissioned by Creative Industries Trafford, in partnership with the National Trust and Trust New Art, as part of ‘Live at Lyme’ – a series of new performance events taking place at Lyme throughout September.

Herizons are thrilled to be bringing their unique energy and creativity to such an inspiring venue and cannot wait to share these incredible women’s stories with you!

The performances are free to attend, though usual Lyme entry prices apply – please see their website for details.

About Herizons

Herizons is a community performance group of local women who meet every week for music and drama workshops at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House. Some members of the group first came together to devise and perform Gaskell: The Musical! – a sell out sensation at Manchester Histories Festival 2016 – and we are pleased to have welcomed new members along the way. Other performances since then include Strong Manchester Women and a special musical opening to Manchester City Council’s International Women’s Day Awards at the Town Hall. Herizons sessions are delivered by enJOY arts and Claire Mooney, in partnership with Elizabeth Gaskell’s House.

In the Driving Seat – young women set to perform at Museum of Transport

Posted on May 15, 2017 by enjoyarts

Less than 3 weeks to go until our ‘In the Driving Seat’ performances by young women at the Museum of Transport! We can’t wait to share what the group has been creating and the good news is you have two opportunities to join in the fun! Please call or email us for FREE tickets (details on the flyer below) and be speedy as spaces are limited!

In the Driving Seat Flyer

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These performances are part of our ‘Her Hidden Histories’ project, working to creatively engage young women and other new audiences with small heritage venues across Manchester. More news soon on our next performance at the Greater Manchester Police Museum!

Strong Manchester Women!

Posted on May 11, 2017 by enjoyarts

The Herizons group excelled themselves in a rousing performance inspired by strong women from Manchester’s history at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House last night!

From Peterloo activist Mary Fildes, to modern day anti-racism campaigner Louise Da-Cocodia, they took their audience on a lively journey through time with sketches and songs.

The group have been working on the performance in weekly sessions since the beginning of March and were delighted to be able to share the stories they’d uncovered to an enthusiastic audience:

‘Fabulous performance – entertaining and informative, well done… When’s the next one?!’

‘I hope you continue to inspire others and carry on being powerful!’

‘Loved it all – the final song was very uplifting, great!’

Herizons is a community performance group of local women who meet every week for music and drama workshops at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House. Some members of the group first came together to devise and perform ‘Gaskell: The Musical!’ – a sell out sensation at Manchester Histories Festival 2016 – and we are pleased to have welcomed new members along the way. The group were recently honoured to perform at Manchester City Council’s International Women’s Day Awards at the Town Hall. This term, the Herizons group has been funded by the One Manchester Community Fund and sessions are delivered by enJOY arts and Claire Mooney, in partnership with Elizabeth Gaskell’s House.

We’ll soon be able to share some exciting news about what Herizons’ next adventure will be – so watch this space!

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