Young people from Evenwood youth club completed a week long project with Helix Arts to create a Hidden Treasure Trial. The project, in the first phase was funded by Co-Operative Youth Isolation Fund, to tackle loneliness in young people. It bought together a group of young people to explore how they identify with Evenwood and create a art using pinhole photography.
The young people who took part engaged with other members of the community to learn about the history of Evenwood and see how, today, parts of Evenwood is still known by older names. The project then saw the young people create maps and boxes of the photos from the pinhole cameras to be left round Evenwood.
On 30th March 2019, the community came together to celebrate the hard work of the young people and enjoy their photography. It saw an opportunity for the community to explore parts of Evenwood as a family and get out in the sunshine and enjoy the morning. The launch day started at the Randolph Community Centre and ended at the Community Centre.
Martin Clark, The Randolph Community Centre Manager said “IT has been a pleasure to host both the activity week and the launch event here. It is great to hear the centre alive with activity and being enjoyed by the families. The Randolph Centre holds some historical memories for many members of the community and it was great to see the involvement of us in this way. It is great to see the partnership work between YMCA and The Randolph Community Centre continue in such a meaningful way.”
Rachel Dyne, Operations Director for YMCA in Teesdale said “The project has seen young people create something positive for the community and it has been great to see people enjoy their hard work. It has allowed all to engage with their local community in a very different way and we can’t wait to see what happens next with it. We couldn’t have completed the project so far without the support of The Randolph Community Centre”
Helix Arts have secured additional funding to see the project secured into the longer term future. Keep an eye out at YMCA in Evenwood to see what happens next.
If you would like more information about the activities we have planned in Evenwood, please follow us on Facebook or call into the Community House in Wellgarth.