Community Advisors | Skate Co-OP

Held at the Doncaster Skate Co-Operative and food provided by the fab cafe located in the venue.

The Community Advisors were taken on a tour of the venue and learnt about the Skate Co-Op through one of the Co-Owners Emma.

Chair Sacha Gray steered the group through the agenda, which featured a Doncaster Festival of Light data presentation and updates on the current priority community projects. Space was then created for the Advisors to share their thoughts and insights on the projects.

TREES | Things That Go On Things

TREES by Things That Go On Things visited Doncaster and was brought to two locations, the first being Conisbrough Castle and on the second day Balby Bridge Estate, next to Atlas Academy.

We were joined by a number of partners who came along and helped make this event so special. Karen Hall provided Craft Activities for all the family, making Tree Wands to sprinkle the magic of trees everywhere. Potteric Carr, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust provided nature theme activities, relating to the context of the artwork TREES. The Trees Sustainability Unit at Doncaster Council provided free Trees for audience members to take home and plant themselves.

The Central Family Hub brought free craft activities for children to take part in onsite day two. Van Chaud provided refreshments at Balby Bridge (including crepes for pancake day!).

Faces of Balby Bridge | The Point

The Faces of Balby Bridge Photography Exhibition by artist Jamie Bubb was exhibited at darts, 19th February to the 19th April.

This beautiful co-created collection of photographs by the talented Jamie Bubb is part of Right Up Our Street’s ongoing residency work on the Balby Bridge Estate.

Reyt Proud Zine

Reyt Proud zine is a new zine that shines a light on stories from LGBTQ+ people in Doncaster sharing what makes them proud. It’s part of a longer term project we’re working on with Creative Producer Finn Warman from Andro and Eve for LGBTQ+ people in Doncaster, with the creation of artwork which will debut at Doncaster Pride which is this years’ UK Pride.

This gorgeous full colour zine features the creative contributions from groups like Fit Rovers, Doncaster Youth Council and LGBTQ+ Youth Group Doncaster from their workshops delivered by our Project Manager Finn Warman, along with individual members of the LGBTQ+ community, sharing what makes them proud. Inside, you’ll also find interviews with legendary local drag queens Bipolar Abdul and Anna Popp.

The Zine was designed by Leeds based artist Jazyra Christou.

Reyt Proud Zine Launch

We launched the Reyt Proud zine on Saturday 2 March in Doncaster City Centre. There was free cake, tea, creative activities and of course everyone could grab the newly printed Zine to see their contribution.

Lady Kitt visited us to begin exploration for the next phase of this project ‘Visible Rest’. Conversations and creative ideas were shared.

Balby Bridge Community Panel | Stirling centre

We had our second Community Panel February 29th 2024, which was hosted by The Stirling Centre.

The Right Up Our Street team shared the updated journey we’ve had on the estate so far and what has been contributed to the #ArtinBalbyBridge residency. Whilst sharing findings of previous panels and consultations, the team presented ideas on what could come next for the project.

The panel discussed the options and voted on their favourites, next steps are community consultation.

Hosting the Honours Meeting

We at Right Up Our Street were proud to have been invited to host the Honours Committee and share some of the work we have been developing with the wonderful community of Doncaster.

The committee reviewed nominations for the King’s Birthday 2024 Honours list and this was only the second time any honours committee has met outside of London since 2005.

The Album Launch

In March, we celebrated the launch of ‘The Album’ - which has been a beautiful collaboration between The Conversation Club and Right Up Our Street, led by the fantastic Andrew Mitchell.
It was lovely to join and share stories together at #RUOSHQ over a cup of tea and cake.
Big thank you to Denise & Paul at the Conversation Club for bringing us together and the talented Mo for sharing his wonderful music with us.

Festival Steering Group Go-See

We took our Festival Steering Group to London for the day to see Refik Anadol’s exhibition at the Serpentine and to visit the Balloon Museum. It was great to experience the art, share the joy and be inspired together.

The National Gallery | Arcade | Atlas Academy

Phase one of our collaboration with the National Gallery took place at Atlas Primary School on the Balby Bridge Estate and it was a fantastic way to kickstart the new project.

Arcade - a Digital Agency - responsible for the creation of the National Gallery app ‘The Keeper of Paintings’ visited the children of Atlas Primary school and delivered an assembly as well as workshops with two Year 5 classes.

The team at Arcade demonstrated a new app they are developing and the children had the opportunity to experience and use the alpha version of the app first hand and share feedback to help shape the development of the app!

The Poetry Takeaway Workshops | New Pastures

The Poetry Takeaway with Matt Abbot visited New Pastures Primary School to train new poets for the upcoming Poetry Takeaway in Mexborough. Matt ran two workshops with the children preparing them to serve up fresh poems to the people of Mexborough.

The Poetry Takeaway Mexborough

On Monday 20th May Right Up Our Street brought The Poetry Takeaway van to Mexborough. The van visited Mexborough Market to deliver a morning of Poetry to the community. Young people from New Pastures Primary School joined us to serve up poems to the local people of Mexborough.

Visitors of the Poetry Takeaway Van could take their poems home as a souvenir of their time with our local poets. Heritage Doncaster’s Moving Museum were there to share objects and stories and The National Literacy Trust gave away free books and celebrated the magic of words through a poetry reading.

Rest Fest Creative Workshops

Through a series of online and in person workshops Kitt facilitated activities, exercises and questions which invited people to share ideas of what they find restful and restorative. Kitt then weaved responses (their own and those shared in the workshops) together to create an installation within Doncaster Pride which can offer a space for pause, rest, and contemplation, amongst the action, activism, performance and celebration of the day.

Doncaster Festival of Colour

A Luminarium is a sculpture people enter to be moved to a sense of wonder at the beauty of light and colour. A dazzling maze of winding paths and soaring domes where natural forms, Islamic architecture, Archimedean solids and Gothic cathedrals meld into an inspiring mix of design and engineering.

Since 1992 over 3 million visitors in more than 40 countries across 5 continents have immersed themselves in the spectacular and luminous world of Architects of Air.

The Album | Visiting the Glass Centre

In June 2024 the group visited the National Glass Centre and experienced a workshop in glass blowing, led by the Sunderland Creative team, Jim and Rob.

Ahmed’s piece of work will be brought to life via glass blowing and whilst we were there Ahmed was consulted on what he visualised his piece looking like and explored possibilities and potential outcomes with Jim and Rob.

The team enjoyed a fun day getting to explore The National Glass Centre and try their hand at glass blowing themselves.

We now can’t wait to see what Ahmed and the team will create together.

Where We Are… Doncaster! | Taster Days

introducing the Where We Are project to the young people of Doncaster. The first session was facilitated by the fab Sarah Smizz and Paul Littlewood, who led activities involving zine making, song writing and collaboration!

The second session was facilitated by Singer Songwriter Philippa Zawe and Theatre Producer Lauren Townsend, who led activities around songwriting, getting to know each other and what we love about Doncaster!

“Where we are... is a new national programme delivered by the British Museum and supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. From 2021-2025 the programme will work with third sector and cultural partners across the country to develop meaningful arts and cultural projects with young people.”

Visible Rest | Lady Kitt

An Artwork For UK Pride with Right Up Our Street and Andro & Eve.

Through a series of online and in person workshops Kitt facilitated activities, exercises and questions which invited people to share ideas of what they find restful and restorative. Kitt is then weaving responses (their own and those shared in the workshops) together to create an installation within Doncaster Pride which can offer a space for pause, rest, and contemplation, amongst the action, activism, performance and celebration of the day.

Community Advisors | Wyre Lady

This Community Advisors was held on the Wyre Lady in Sprotbrough. We were taken down the River Don and back up to Conisbrough Castle. Food was served and our Community Advisors had the choice of Pie & Peas or a Jacket Potato.

The group were given updates on the Priority Communities Strand and were asked a series of questions relating to the shaping of the Community Advisors role and meetings.

It was Chair Sacha Gray’s final session leading the group so the team would like to say a big thank you to Sacha for her time and energy she has put into the group.

Into the Park

We brought into the park back to Edlington and Stainforth this summer!

Community members from Edlington and Stainforth joined us in their local parks and took part in this summer family event. No Fit State brought their new production ‘Bamboo’ to Into the Park this year.

Into the Park was made possible by our fantastic partners who brought free activities along to the day for families to get involved in.

Families brought their own picnic, watched the performances and enjoyed a day in their local park.

“A SUMMER FAMILY EVENT THAT BRINGS JOY AND CELEBRATES THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT ON A LOCAL LEVEL.”

Banners for Change with Karen Hall | Heritage Fund

Banners for change is inspired by the miners strike banners of 1984-85’s year long strike.
Karen visited community groups across Edlington and Stainforth to create the banners together. The banners were then displayed at the Into the Park events!

This was funded by Heritage Fund

The National Gallery Visit XP and ATLAS Academy

Atlas Academy children from Year 4 on the Balby Bridge Estate were visited by artist Jo, who delivered workshops focusing around one painting from the National Gallery. Pupils worked together to create a 3D sculpture based around the painting.

XP School students and teachers both experienced workshops delivered by artists Josepha and Jo as part of the National Gallery’s Articulation Programme.

The Album | Estelle Pearce

Digital fashion designer and pattern cutter Estelle Pearce ran workshops giving the group the opportunity to try their hand at natural dyeing fabrics too, learning about the processes Estelle uses. The team have made some fantastic designs on Tote Bags.

Pre-Festival Festival Steering Group

We caught up with our Festival Steering group before the festival to share details with them about the upcoming exhibition of Love & Unity for the Doncaster Festival of Light 2024.

The National Gallery | Art Road Trip | 200 Years

In celebration of The National Gallery’s 200 Year Anniversary, the Gallery’s travelling art studio programme, Art Road Trip, visited us in Doncaster!

The sessions, led by Sadegh Aleahmad were suitable for all ages and all abilities; no prior art knowledge or skill were required! The activities were colourful, fun, and tactile.

There were several activities running simultaneously and participants could pick exactly what they wanted to do and when. The atmosphere was fun and relaxed, whether audiences came on their own or with friends and family.

Town Field Primary, Hungerhill school and Stirling SMILE Visit Doncaster Festival of Light

Town Field Primary, Hungerhill School and Stirling SMILE visited Doncaster Festival of Light exhibition Love & Unity this afternoon with Morag Myerscough, where Morag led embroidery workshop sessions for the students and participants.

Where We Are…Doncaster Sessions

We’ve had a wonderful couple of months collaborating with the 15 fantastic young people from the British Museum Where We Are Project!

The group have been meeting regularly with sessions led by facilitator Sarah Smizz with Right Up Our Street and Doncaster Culture Services.

As the young people have been getting to know each other and exploring what they want their project to be during their sessions at the Central Family Hub on the Balby Bridge Estate, they have also had the opportunity to explore Doncaster via an Art Trail and have a workshop with Doncaster Festival of Light artist Morag Myerscough!

We can’t wait to see what the group will create together in the new year.

Community Advisors | Doncaster Mansion House

We had our final Community Advisors meeting of 2024 at the Mansion House, Doncaster.

Our Advisors had a tour around the Mansion House and enjoyed a festive afternoon tea in the Back Committee Room, whilst the team shared updates on our Priority Communities Strand for the extension year! Thank you to our Chair Akeela Mohammed, who led our meeting for the first time yesterday!

A big thank you to our Community Advisors for all your support this year, your knowledge and advice is so crucial to #TeamRUOS and we’re proud to call each and everyone of you our friends.

Thank you to Helen Foster for helping to organise this special meeting and Natalie from Renshaw Green LTD. for providing a delicious afternoon tea for us all!

Young Producers

Working with Rebecca Smith from Urban Projections, a small group of Young Producers have been introduced to the role of Festival Producer. The young people are getting an insight to a range of learning from Budgets to risk assessments.

Workshops have included a trip to see the Tate Modern to see the beautiful Anthony McCall exhibition and a visit to Rebecca’s workshop. They are collaborating on an exciting event opening next year…

The Balby Bridge Workshop Space

With thanks to the amazing people at St Leger Homes of Doncaster (for the long term loan of the space), the team Right Up Our Street, Doncaster and some of our Community Advisors, spent an evening preparing a new delivery space on the Balby Bridge estate! Watch this space for more updates in 2025…