Creative heritage projects with young people – Training and Networking Event

Posted on July 6, 2015 by enjoyarts

We are hosting, along with our friends at Tandem Theatre, a special training and networking event at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House on Thursday 16th July.

We will be sharing our learning from our recent young women’s creative heritage project and exploring both the value and challenges of this kind of work. This event is aimed at youth work and heritage/museum professionals who are interested in engaging young people with heritage in a creative way. The training element will be interactive, with opportunities to develop your own project ideas and make new contacts for partnership working. There are two sessions for this event (10am-2pm or 1pm-5pm) with a networking lunch provided for all attendees in the changeover between sessions. Tickets are only £15 including a lovely lunch.

Please see our eventbrite page for more details and to book your place.

Tales of Manchester Life Celebration Event and Short Film

Posted on June 19, 2015 by enjoyarts

We had a fantastic time returning to Elizabeth Gaskell’s House to celebrate the achievements of the young women involved in our Tales of Manchester Life project last night!

All of the young women earned their Bronze Arts Award as part of the project and were given individual medals and certificate packs. We were also pleased to be able to present each young woman with a framed professional photo of themselves taking part in the project as a special keepsake. The young women and their guests – including proud parents, teachers and youthworkers – took their seats for the film premiere of their ‘Gaskell, Interrupted’ performance before enjoying a lovely celebratory buffet. We’d like to say another huge well done to all the participants and a big thank you to everyone who worked so hard on the project!

Here are a few photos of the night:

We couldn’t leave you without a taster, so check out a short Behind the Scenes film about the project here:

And, if is this has left you wanting to know more, we’re running a special training and networking event inspired by the project for youthwork and heritage professionals on Thursday 16th July. The event will take place back at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House (our new home from home!) and you can get tickets here.

Tales of Manchester Life: ‘Gaskell, Interrupted’ Performance

Posted on June 2, 2015 by enjoyarts

15 young women from our Tales of Manchester Life project took over Elizabeth Gaskell’s House in 3 fantastic performances last week! The final piece was called ‘Gaskell, Interrupted’ and encouraged the audience to imagine the different ways in which Elizabeth Gaskell might have found herself interrupted not only by the demands of daily life but by her desire to give voice to those most in need.

The young women worked incredibly hard to develop an extremely slick promenade performance which led the audience through the different rooms of the house and showcased both dramatic scenes and original music created by the groups.

We couldn’t be prouder of everyone involved and look forward to celebrating the young women’s achievements at our project celebration event at the house in a couple of weeks’ time!

One week to go!

Posted on May 22, 2015 by enjoyarts

Young women from our Tales of Manchester Life project are very excited about their upcoming performances, the first of which will be in just one week’s time! Here they are inviting you to come and watch.

Click here for more info on how to book tickets – it’s sure to be a fantastic performance!

Tales of Manchester Life – upcoming performances!

Posted on May 8, 2015 by enjoyarts

Just three weeks to go until our ‘Tales of Manchester Life’ performances by young women at the incredibly atmospheric and inspiring Elizabeth Gaskell’s House! We can’t wait to share what the groups have been creating and the good news is you have not one, not two, but THREE opportunities to join in the fun! Please call or email us for tickets (details on the flyer below) and be speedy as spaces are limited!

Tales of Manchester Life Project Update

Posted on May 1, 2015 by enjoyarts

Our young women’s groups have been hard at work putting together what promises to be a lively and innovative performance at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House! Here are Tyra & Tamara talking about what they’ve been up to so far:

Heritage Project Trips and Visits

Posted on February 27, 2015 by enjoyarts

We spent a fantastic week during half term bringing together young women from Wythenshawe and Salford to explore local heritage sites in connection with Elizabeth Gaskell as part of our ‘Tales of Manchester Life’ project.

We began the week at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, where the young women were able to explore the rooms and take part in creative activities inspired by what they found there.

On Wednesday we travelled to Knutsford to see where Elizabeth Gaskell spent her childhood and the church in which she married. We enjoyed a walking tour courtesy of Knutsford Heritage Centre and we saw an exhibition at the Brook Street Chapel.

Then, on Thursday we visited Quarry Bank Mill, where we found out what life was like for the young people who worked there during Victorian times through a tour of the Apprentice House. We were also shown some of the machinery they used and given the opportunity to explore an archive with particular reference to Elizabeth Gaskell’s connection with the mill (her uncle being the local doctor). Finally, we enjoyed a fantastic session on Victorian dress where the girls where able to try on some beautiful outfits!

We came back to Elizabeth Gaskell’s House to round up the week and share what we had learned before looking ahead to ideas for our performance.

We’re now looking forward to an exciting couple of months of creativity as we work with each group in weekly sessions to create this performance. The final piece will be performed at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House at the end of May and we know it’s going to be fantastic!

We’d like to thank all the staff at Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, Knutsford Heritage Centre, Brook Street Chapel and Quarry Bank Mill for such a fun-filled and inspiring kickstart to this project!

Funding Success for Young Women’s Creative Heritage Project

Posted on November 21, 2014 by enjoyarts

enJOY arts are delighted to announce that, in collaboration with our friends at Tandem Theatre, we have been awarded funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England for an exciting new young women’s project based in Greater Manchester!

‘Tales of Manchester Life’ will focus on the life and times of Elizabeth Gaskell, one of the Victorian Era’s most important women writers, and culminate in public performances at newly re-opened Elizabeth Gaskell’s House in Ardwick. The project is due to begin in early 2015 with the performances taking place at the end of May.

‘Tales of Manchester Life’ will enable young women from Wythenshawe and Salford to explore the cultural and social context of the period in which Gaskell wrote, focusing on women and their changing roles, through creative writing and performance. The young women will take their inspiration from visits to local heritage sites such as Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, Quarry Bank Mill and Knutsford Heritage Centre.

enJOY arts and Tandem Theatre are two female-led community arts organisations working primarily with young people in Greater Manchester and aiming to broaden their cultural horizons. Working with heritage experts and volunteers from Elizabeth Gaskell’s House, participants in this project will be able to find out more about Gaskell’s work, life and times, interpret this creatively in a way that feels relevant to them and share their heritage learning with other young people and the wider community.

Sara Hilton, Head of HLF North West, says: “It’s wonderful to see young Manchester women engaging with one of the city’s historic female figures, through the places and ideas associated with her. ‘Tales of Manchester Life’ is a great example of how exploring heritage can help us understand our identity and still inspire us today.”

We are thrilled to have received the support of both the Heritage Lottery Fund and Arts Council England for this exciting project! We are confident that ‘Tales of Manchester Life’ will engage young women with both heritage and positive female roles models in a creative and inspiring way. This project has been made possible by an award of £31,100 from the Heritage Lottery Fund Young Roots Programme and £9,705 from Arts Council England.

Watch this space to see how the project develops and for updates on the final performances!

enJOY arts

celebrating creativity

Tag Archives: elizabeth gaskell