The festival celebrated words by holding open writing workshops to increase confidence and skills.  After the writers were selected, they were invited to workshops to develop their ideas and help them meet their aspirations. The result was the creation of nine fascinating stories inspired by such diverse places as Chantry Chapel, the Ackworth Plague Stone and Pontefract Castle.

The next task was to make sure that the stories reached the widest audience possible, to that end we recorded them and you can find the audio versions here:

We also published the stories in a zine – you can find the electronic version of it here:

Finally, we performed them underground at The National Coal Mining Museum and in the visitor’s centre at Pontefract Museum.

The project was an absolute celebration of the talent and creativity of the young people of Wakefield – here is what some of the participants had to say about it,

“It was so cool to do something I have never done before. Getting the opportunity to record an audiobook was exciting. LitFest gives these opportunities to people who may never get to experience it again. The workshop made me feel at home and when performing in the national coalmining museum it was if everyone was assimilated with the LitFest culture and so happy that these art forms have had a stage to be performed on.”

“I am really grateful for this opportunity. This is my first successful short story and as I said before, I’m often verbose in my style. I really appreciated the challenge of writing this and also that I was given a theme / location to write about. I am eager to get involved again in the future! Also, I’m really appreciative of how friendly and welcoming everyone was. It made the sharing environment a lot more peaceful and enjoyable.”

The post Wakefield LitFest 2025 appeared first on Spark Wakefield.

In January we invite people to come and hear the stories the YAA’s discovered though their research into the history of West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum – later known as Stanley Royd Hospital. The YAA’s, alongside young theatre-makers and artists from the Wakefield District, unveiled the past and shaped the future in a powerful exploration of mental health history through performance, storytelling, and art.

The sharings included theatrical performances inspired by real-life histories, art and creative responses to historical research and a fresh perspective on mental health, then and now.

Here is what some of the arts ambassadors had to say about their involvement in the project and performances:

“We found in this project a sort of identification with a history and a heritage that was both very real and very personal. That is partly from the research, but also from the process of creating something informed by that research – we had to practice a sort of radical empathy to put ourselves in those shoes we had read so much about, which is an unusual thing to practice but a rewarding one. Overall, I feel developed, not just as an amateur historian, or playwright, but as a person for having taken part.”

And here are some thoughts from an audience member who came to see the performance:

“The night was performed, written, researched and presented all by young people in the Wakefield area. It was excellent to see so many young people bringing justice to such a niche subject, which is so key to Wakefield’s history. Each play was written with so much care, you could tell each line was carefully researched, crafted to tell a touching story about the people affected. Writers Yuri, Elvira, Ashe, Aimee, John and Jamie should be overly proud of the work they created, it was incredible. It perfectly balanced the educational elements of the performances with an enjoyable theatrical experience, which felt so raw and true to the stories of the asylum. Each piece had its own individuality but all worked in tandem to develop a phenomenally authentic evening of theatre.”

You can find the rest of their review here: https://tinyurl.com/yc35v7ae

The events will took place at Westgate Studios (Studio A4) as part of Wakefield Artwalk on the 29th of January and also at Treacy Hall, Wakefield Cathedral on the 31st of January.

The post Humansing Mental Health performances January 2025 appeared first on Spark Wakefield.

SPARK’s Youth Arts Ambassadors have a dual role.  Their first ambition is to work with cultural and artistic organisations in the Wakefield District to help make their programmes for young people accessible and relevant. Their second is to champion arts and culture to their peers to raise awareness of what is happening and the positive impact it can have on wellbeing, health success and happiness.

To this end they have developed this manifesto to help shape their work:

Youth Arts Ambassadors represent young people in the Wakefield District who are growing up in an area with significant arts and culture opportunities but where the focus is on established organisations which are not for everyone and not always creatively challenging

•     We are honest and direct

Ready to take on any challenge in the spirit of supporting development

•     We are inclusive

Our team welcomes and represents people from different cultures and backgrounds and who have diverse needs

•     We are a judgement free zone

All opinions are heard and considered as we make decisions

•     We are focused 

We enable and champion creativity and self-expression

•     We are proud

We celebrate the Wakefield District and the culture it is home to

However our work isn’t theoretical we try and meet our objectives through action.To this end, since the panel started in June 2023 we have:

• Worked with a range of professionals to develop our knowledge and/or skills in – Wakefield District’s artistic and cultural landscape, writing non-fiction and journalism, careers in arts and culture and the impact of creativity on wellbeing and brain chemistry.
• Attended an event at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, to feedback on how it felt to be a young person engaging with their activities and how we thought it could portray more modern day art and sculptures for the youth
• Collaborated with the National Coal Mining Museum England on how to develop their offer for young people and people who live with disabilities
• Worked with the Wakefield Museums to assist them in planning and running a youth takeover event. Initial planning was made by the YAA but the sessions themselves were run by the youth of Wakefield. A few of our ambassadors attended the actual events and took part in the activities of Takeover Day.
• Advised WDH on a community consultation. They wanted advice on how to engage with young people in Wakefield. What services we felt were needed and any community groups we thought could be worth setting up. Ideas such as life skills classes and hobby groups were discussed as well as wanting most of the discussed groups to be run by young people.
• Represented SPARK at the Wakefield District Youth Voice and Participation panel
• Talked to professionals at Leeds Gallery, The National Coalmining Museum England and Wakefield Museum about how to craft a career in arts and culture and the different opportunities available
• Begun to develop a youth led heritage project inspired by Mental Health in collaboration with The Mental Health Museum. The focus is the history of The Stanley Royd Hospital and how we, as a society, have tried our best to change the ways we help and treat people with declining mental health. We also want to explore how throughout history, people have been misunderstood and forced into treatment who didn’t necessarily need it, and how they were treated as a “mad man/woman”
• On the 14th of March one of our ambassadors, Mary was selected to be part of a youth interview panel for a senior role in Wakefield council and give a voice for Spark. After a short briefing beforehand they got straight to it. This was a first experience for all of the people on the panel! Mary stood as a youth disability and mental health advocate for Spark, accompanied by our new member Troy (and AJ). An amazing experience all around

The post Youth Arts Achievements – What We’ve Done and What We’ve Learnt appeared first on Spark Wakefield.

Welcome one and all to the one and only blog written by the one and only me, Jacob Dore. Today I will be talking about the wonderful ‘Festival of Plays’ which was part of the Wakefield LitFest and will be using my position as a SPARK Youth Ambassador to talk about this event as a youth-run and led event.

I have written many blogs in my time and yet I always find myself with one struggle, how to start the thing. So, I will take the easy road out and follow Lewis Carroll’s wisdom and begin at the beginning (of the event that is). Even before the start of the event it’s clear this is an event that considers youth at every step of the way with even the box office manned by two members of the LitFest team who are both, of course, youths. (I should also make mention by this point that by youths, I mean people aged from 16-25, I wasn’t given my tickets by a toddler). With the start of the event came the one and only appearance of a non-youth, Sarah Osborne. However, as was explained, this was because the person who was supposed to be running the introduction to the event was unfortunately unable to make it. This is also beside the point, the introduction lasted less than a minute and quite surely Sarah could pass for no older than twenty-five so all is well and no attention was lost on the focus of the event, the incredible talents of the youths of Wakefield and the genuinely cracking performances they can create in just three short months.

And so, we finally arrive at the meat of the matter, the event itself. I won’t beat around the bush and I’ll mince no words, what an incredible success it was and every person who participated in it should have their head held high (and I don’t just say this because I just so happened to have directed a play for the festival of plays). The event was created to showcase new writing and it certainly succeeded in doing so, I have seen professional performances that didn’t move an audience to tears and laughter as well as these shows did and it’s down to the fantastic work from the writers, directors and actors who were all, you guessed it, young artists. The events focus on these artists was not lost on me either. With each director introducing their play it allowed even more attention to be given to the artists as with each one the writers were also named and thanked along with their inspiration behind the play being laid bare.  Quite honestly, there’s not much more for me to say about the event. The young artists were constantly in the spotlight and were always made to be the most important part of the event. In conclusion, this event was a huge step in the right direction for pushing youth involvement in arts in Wakefield while providing a lovely time for all.

Now we hear from Sam Kirk – Who as well as being a Youth Arts Ambassador for SPARK is also a member of Wakefield LitFest Program Board and stage managed the festival of plays.

On Saturday I was able to attend Wakefield Litfest 2023, and watch the amazing work written by a selection of young people in Wakefield. 

Each writer was given a series of different prompts that were used as inspiration for the scripts they inevitably created. The young imagination and insight that each individual had, is sure to be different from what adults would create. 

It was wonderful to see the talent that young people have, from writing to directing to acting. There were so many relatable moments and the research that must have been done shows their dedication and hard work. Without releasing it, I’ve even learned a few things. 

It was nice to have believable young characters being portrayed. From my experiences with the older generation writing younger characters, the personalities and relationships can seem stiff or unrealistic. It was refreshing to see young people write about their own personal problems and challenges, or of those of people around them. This gave each character an identity the was easy to watch and be empathetic towards. From covering ideas of loss and grief to own identity these short performances gave an insight into these young people’s thoughts and feelings in a unique way. 

Having young people directing and acting in these performances allowed the scripts written to maintain the vision that was originally presented by the writer whilst also adding new ideas to the performances. For some of the more information based performances that looked into history the talented directors kept the audience engaged with their creative staging. As well the actors maintained intricate emotions that were perceived by the audience members. 

In the end, I had a wonderful afternoon, listening to what young people had to say, thoroughly enjoying each performance and looking forward to see what is created next.

The post Wakefield LitFest 2023 – A Festival of New Plays appeared first on Spark Wakefield.