Blaze Arts

Our latest Impact Report has landed! 🔥

It contains a summary of activities that we delivered between August 2023 and July 2024 and the impact they had on individuals and communities.

Click here to read and download the report: https://blazearts.co.uk/our-impact/impact-report-2023-2024/

Thank you to all of our funders and partners who have enabled us to work with over 400 young people, developing their confidence, creativity and skills.

We still need your support. It's a challenging time for charities like ours to raise the funds we need to keep operating.

Here's two ways that you could support us:
🔥Click here to sign up to donate £5 a month: https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/17718 #!/DonationDetails
🔥 Help raise the profile of our charity by sharing this post and telling other people why you follow Blaze

Why Join the Blaze Board of Trustees, you ask? You could:

• Contribute and make a difference to our growth as a small organisation
• Be at the forefront of supporting the next generation of creative leaders and youth-led practice
• Support young people in Lancashire to fulfil their potential

Maybe there’s a skill you want to develop? Or maybe you just want to give back.

You might even be interested in the role of Vice Chair!

Sound up your alley? For details on how to apply, read our Recruitment Pack on our website. Deadline: 9am on Thursday 31 October ⏳ https://blazearts.co.uk/blog/join-the-board/

Join us at the Same but Different Silent Disco on Saturday! 🎧🎉🌻

The event is part of and has been produced by our Access All Areas Young Producers who are passionate about improving access to culture for disabled people.

The event is taking place in a marquee outside Preston Bus Station from 2.00 - 3.50pm. Join us for an afternoon of music and art in a relaxed and inclusive space.

Everyone welcome. Follow the link below to find out more about the free event including full access info. You can also message us for further details.

https://blazearts.co.uk/blog/same-but-different-silent-disco/

Image Description: The image depicts a pair of holographic headphones against a pale pink background covered in small multi coloured handprints.

Join the Blaze Board of Trustees 💥

We’re looking for volunteers to join our Board, and be at the forefront of supporting the next generation of creative leaders and youth-led practice 🔥

We’re looking for committed people who can support Blaze for at least two years. In particular we’re also looking for expertise in the following areas:

• Financial management
• Strategic business planning
• Human resources and employment
• Safeguarding

Know anyone? Please help us spread the word 🗣

Deadline: 9am on Thursday 31 October ⏳

For details on how to apply, read our Recruitment Pack on our website 🔗 https://blazearts.co.uk/blog/join-the-board/

Exciting news - we’re a partner on Nature Calling - a £2M national art programme connecting communities with their local National Landscape.

Forest of Bowland is a huge area of fields, moorland and forest in the heart of Lancashire. It’s so special, it’s registered as a National Landscape but many people have yet to discover it.

Through Nature Calling we are inviting young people in East Lancashire to explore Forest of Bowland through music, art and other creative activities. They’ll also have the opportunity to work with two professionals artists who have been commissioned to create new work with communities in the area.

is an artist who refuses to be boxed in. Her music incorporates elements from the hip-hop and drum and bass scenes of her home city of Manchester before adding an eclectic mix of afro-trap and tinges of afrobeats that lean into her Nigerian heritage.

Rob St John is an artist who works in sound, moving image, text and installation. He’s based in Lancashire and his work has been exhibited at Tate Modern, Victoria and Albert Museum and The British Museum.

Nature is calling, will you reply? If you’re aged 13 - 25 and interested in taking part in this unique project contact [email protected] or call 07845066757.

The project is free to take part and will include free trips into the Forest of Bowland. Most sessions will take place in Burnley. Follow this link for more info: https://blazearts.co.uk/blog/nature-calling-call-out/

Funded by Arts Council England Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

Forest of Bowland National Landscape

Heritage Open Days is an annual festival of history and culture taking place between 6-15 September and there’s a range of free events taking place in Burnley and other areas of Lancashire this week.

Our Round Our Way film is being screened at Burnley Mechanics Theatre on Sunday as part of a ‘Burnley on Film’ event organised by Burnley Film Makers. The film was made earlier this year by pupils from three local high schools and Fully Formed Films. Don’t miss this opportunity to see it on the big screen alongside films made by local amateur filmmakers from the 1940s to 1980s. Book your free ticket here: https://www.burnleyfilmmakers.org/about-4.

Other events include a scaffold tour of the renovations at Towneley Hall, an Open Day at , a vintage car show and heritage trails around Burnley’s Conservation Area. Check out the full programme via this link:https://www.burnleyfilmmakers.org/_files/ugd/ab1ba8_c6ca85d8f83c4fa089cdbf959683692f.pdf

Congratulations to Reuben Lawless who won the Rising Star award at the Burnley Culture awards last night. 💫

Reuben first connected with Blaze when he was 17 and got involved in our Stand Out project. He then took on a paid role with us and supported other young producers to deliver Burnley Pride in 2023. Reuben has previously talked about how Blaze helped him realise ‘this is what I want to do more of’. Since working with us Reuben has also worked at Burnley Youth Theatre, contributed to the Burnley LCEP and now works at Creative Spaces Burnley.

The photo above was taken earlier this year when Reuben helped install our Round Our Way exhibition at The Salon. In the photo he’s stood alongside Jai Redman and Nick Hunt who also won awards last night for their contribution to culture in Burnley.

We’re proud to be based in a town full of brilliant organisations and people passionate about culture and their community.

Thank you Burnley Leisure & Culture for putting on a fantastic awards event and inviting us to be part of it.

Photo credit: Diane Muldowney

Image Description: The photo shows three people stood in a gallery window with a yellow frame, facing towards the street. The person in the foreground is Reuben Lawless who is leaning forward and placing an old camera onto a display stand in the window sill. On his right is Jai Redman wearing a yellow hat and red coat. Jai is watching the camera being moved and is reaching forward to help. Nick Hunt is in the background of the photo, facing towards the camera.

Culture Burnley

Tonight our Director, Helen will be presenting the ‘Rising Star Award’ at the Culture Burnley Awards at . We can’t wait to find out who has won! Congratulations to all of the young adults who have been nominated. 💫

Our call out for young musicians ends on Thursday!

If you’re interested in performing at theatre in October, fill in this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJnF1OnFzgMmVz3S0yJtN0qMlr6gYwkT7oIkEOIR4CKXnzbA/viewform

We’re looking for singers, rappers and musicians (any genre) who are aged 13 - 26. We’d also like to hear from anyone under 25 who is interested in gaining experience in event production.

FREE day of Summer activities is happening next week at Burnley Central Library! Come along to enjoy games ♠️, live music 🎤 and refreshments🧃on Wednesday. Brought to you by the Know Your Neighbourhood project through the Blaze Arts Creative Activators.

⭐️All ages welcome
📍Burnley Central Library BB11 2BD
⏰ 1-4pm, Wednesday 21st August 2024

Arts Council England Lancashire County Council
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Image Description: Large text at the top reads “Summer Social Activity Afternoon”. Smaller text below is “Wednesday 21st August, 1-4pm. Burnley Central Library BB11 2BD. What’s on? Live music, summer activities, refreshments, board games, hang out spaces, fidget sensory area, arts and crafts. Free for all ages. Brought to you by Know Your Neighbourhood.” At the bottom of the image are the logos for Libraries Connected, Lancashire County Council, UK Government, Arts Council England and Blaze Arts. The image background is a pale colour with images of a sun hat, sunglasses and art supplies along the right side.

Young Creatives and Performers Wanted! Ages 13 - 26. Any genre welcome.

We’re looking for musicians, singers, DJs, rappers, spoken word artists and any other young creatives interested in contributing to a youth music event at Burnley Mechanics Theatre on Wednesday 23rd October 2024.

Performance fees available and travel expenses covered.

Express your interest via this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJnF1OnFzgMmVz3S0yJtN0qMlr6gYwkT7oIkEOIR4CKXnzbA/viewform

Deadline 9am on Thursday 29 August. We’ll confirm the timings and line up after the closing date.

Got a question about the event? Call/message Gemma on 07845066757 or email [email protected]

Image Description: logo consisting of black music notes and white text saying ‘Music or Lose It.’ Laid over a pale background with lilac and orange strips of colour.

☀️😎 END OF SUMMER SOCIAL 😎⛱️

Looking for the perfect way to end your summer? Join us for an afternoon of endless summer fun! A free event open to all ages. Bringing the community together with lots of activities to get involved in, live music by local artists and light refreshments available. ☀️🧩🎲🕶️🎨🌈🎤

When: Wednesday 21st August 2024
Time: 1pm - 4pm
Where: Burnley Central Library, BB11 2BD

Design competition for 16 - 21 year olds in Burnley. Cash prize available! Submit your entry before 4 August.

Yesterday we were in Blackburn delivering youth voice training to members of the Chip In, Youth Volunteering Programme.

Led by , Chip In is a place- based project which has engaged young people aged 16-30 in volunteer opportunities across Blackburn with Darwen's arts, culture, sport, heritage and environment sectors over two years.

We're really pleased that they invited us to help them think about the legacy of the project and how they might engage young people beyond volunteering opportunities and embed youth voice in their organisations.

Very excited to see what happens next in Blackburn!

For more information about the youth voice training that we deliver, check out the 'Listen In Training' link in our bio.

Introducing our new Programme Manager…Gemma Whiteley!

Gemma joined Blaze last month and is taking the lead on developing and delivering our programme of activity.

Gemma grew up in the North East and trained as an actor before founding a multi disciplinary theatre company based in Manchester.

We’re really excited to have Gemma join our organisation and contribute her experience, skills and perspectives to our work.



[Image Description: Gemma is a white woman with dark, straight hair that is tied up and a fringe. In the photo she is wearing a plain black sweater and black leggings. Gemma is in the bottom right hand corner of the image and is sat on the floor, looking up and laughing at someone stood to her right. Only the person’s leg appears on the left of the image. Gemma is sat in front of a wall covered in notes and drawings which gives the impression of a workshop space.]

We’ve loved reading the comments left by visitors to our Round Our Way exhibition and the young people who took part in the project.

When audiences say ‘Young people showing an interest and appreciation is refreshing’ we know we’ve made some progress towards improving perceptions of young people and strengthening our local community.

The pupils who took part in the Round Our Way project were compassionate and creative and the film they’ve created is a thought provoking journey through the past, present and future of Burnley and Nelson.

If you didn’t get chance to see their film in the exhibition, you can now watch it on our Youtube channel here: https://youtu.be/u9skhwB9H04?si=0JklTLOKr6S9rjgh



Image description:
1. Black and white photo of a postcard with the following handwritten text: This project was valuable, it helped me both mentally and physically. Plus it helped open views beyond my own!

2. Black and white photo of a postcard with the following handwritten text: It’s nice seeing the town I grew up in seeing the spotlight it deserves. And young people showing an interest and appreciation is refreshing. Lovely work, clearly a lot of care was put in, keep it up! Mo.

On Sunday joined our Access All Areas session in Preston and delivered a fab presentation about access in arts and working as an Access Consultant.

Ash shared loads of advice and inspiration with the group who are producing an element of festival this year. Keep following to find out what they have planned!

Next month they’ll be heading to to learn more about festival production and make new connections.

Image descriptions:
1. Ash standing in front of a TV screen displaying their presentation and talking to a group of young adults who are sat around tables watching and/or listening. Ash is wearing dark clothing and the room has light plain walls.
2. Two young adults in bright clothing sat at a table. They are talking to each other. One of them is holding a mug of drink and the other is playing with bright sand on the table. There is a book, post it notes and brightly coloured fidget toys on the table.
3. Two young adults in dark clothing sat at a different table, facing each other and talking. The table has a mug, water bottle and fidget toys on it.
4. Another photo of the group listening and/or watching Ash present at the front of the room.

As well as winning a Northern Cultural Education award, the Stand Out Young Producers’ work features in the recently published ‘Social and Cultural Infrastructure for People and Policy’ discussion paper which has been produced by The British Academy and is directed towards policy makers.

In the paper Stand Out is presented alongside the Connecting with Yemeni Elders’ Heritage project as examples of activity that creates ‘new spaces of engagement and interaction for communities’ and delivers a range of positive outcomes that align with ‘Levelling Up’ policies.

The paper recommends further research into the impact of youth led heritage projects, widening social prescribing models to include creative heritage activity and more funding and capacity investment to deliver activity like Stand Out. 👏

You can read the full paper here:https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/documents/5384/Social-and-cultural-infrastructure-for-people-and-policy.pdf

A big thank you to Dr Joshua Blamire, Professor James Rees and Rob Elkington for writing the report, raising the profile of our work and supporting the Stand Out Young Producers to influence change beyond Burnley.

📢 Calling all professionals working with young people (in or out of school)…

Would you like to learn how to use iPads and camera equipment to co-create films with young people?

Join us at The Salon in Burnley on Thursday this week for a free professional development workshop with filmmaker Graham Kay and Will McTaggart from North West Film Archive. There will be presentations, a practical ‘have a go’ workshop, discussions and a screening of the Round Our Way film co-created by young people in Burnley.

Attendees will also get a free copy of the brand new book, Round Our Way: Sam Hanna’s Visual Legacy to take back to their school or youth group.

Follow this link for full event details and to book your ticket. 🎟️

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/free-cpd-for-teachers-how-to-embed-film-and-filmmaking-in-teaching-tickets-909622594667?aff=oddtdtcreator



Photos by Diane Muldowney

FREE WORKSHOP TOMORROW! Get yourself to the exhibition tomorrow to take part in a canvas painting session with Nanya.
📅 10am-12pm Saturday 8th June
📍Burnley Pride of Place Project exhibition in Unit 55 Charter Walk shopping centre, Burnley, Lancashire
👥 Aimed at ages 14-25, all ages welcome
♿️ Wheelchair accessible venue

Who will be there?
⭐️ Nanya, an arts & crafts facilitator
⭐️ Members of the Blaze Creative Activators team

Have you visited our Round Our Way exhibition at The Salon in Burnley yet?

The gallery will be open tomorrow evening 6-8pm for a celebration event to mark the launch of the Round Our Way: Sam Hanna’s Visual Legacy book.

Published by , the book contains stills from Sam Hanna’s films with photographs and accompanying essays. There’s also a section of the book dedicated to the project we’ve been delivering with pupils from three local high schools.

Come along to the event tomorrow to see the exhibition, the film and the book.

Everyone welcome.
Soft drinks served.
Speeches around 7pm.

Supported by

The is now open! For the we are asking young people to submit photos that are representative of a word. Each word has been chosen by local young people to describe Burnley.

⭐️Our word this week is “FRIENDS” 👥⭐️

Send your photos in to [email protected]

The images collected through this campaign will be collected and formatted for display in the Burnley Pride of Place Project exhibition in

Have you been to have a look? is currently looking for volunteers to contribute to the exhibition through content, facilitating visitors and raising awareness. If you are over 18 and would like to get involved please contact [email protected]

The Blaze Creative Activators have been busy behind the scenes preparing a live music event for 14-18 year olds at Burnley Central Library! Local young musicians will be playing sets with hang out and game spaces happening too.
Friday 31st May, 6:30-8:30pm
Get your free ticket on Eventbrite now!

What an amazing event coming up next Friday

Blaze Arts are holding a mega cool event at Burnley Library at 6.30-8.30 on Friday 31st May. Visit the link here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/central-sounds-tickets-904074931457 to register for your free ticket

Go and check it out and support your local young musicians