Inspiring children and young people to become successful and confident individuals.

The Forge is a participatory arts education charity based in Stanley, working across the county with some of its most socially and economically disadvantaged communities.

High quality arts experiences

Tony Harrington is its director and is also the chair of Culture Durham. Having been at the helm of The Forge since its formation in 2001, Tony is passionate that children and young people from all backgrounds should have access to high quality arts experiences: “The Forge works with artists, teachers, and other creative agencies developing projects that give children and young people a creative voice. Sometimes our work celebrates local culture and heritage such as Northern Writes, a celebration of the work of pitman poet Tommy Armstrong which incorporated poetry and creative writing for primary school children. In other projects, we have worked with older students such as our work for the PREVENT programme which explored the dangers of right-wing radicalisation through drama, performance, and film. We work strategically with schools and are currently working with seven partner schools to explore whether photography can support children’s creative writing skills.”

Projects can be simple such as an artist working with a single class in a school setting or be large-scale showcase events such as the UK premiere of Defiant Requiem: Verdi and Terezin which took place at Durham Cathedral in partnership with the USA based Defiant Requiem Foundation. The piece commemorates the victims of the Terezin concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia where tens of thousands died during the Second World War.

Tony Harrington continues, “Our Defiant Requiem programme was initially developed to expose young people to the harm that can be caused by scapegoating others and allowing prejudice to flourish. It began by touring a one-person production of The Tin Ring into schools telling the story of the Holocaust through the experience of a young woman.”

The Forge is an Arts Council funded organisation and partners with Culture Bridge North East to deliver the Arts Council’s Artsmark scheme, an accreditation programme recognising schools with strong arts and cultural provision.

‘Working in the Arts’

A recent partnership project ‘Working in the Arts’ has been delivered with DurhamWorks, a programme for young people aged 16-24 living in Durham who are not in education, employment, or training. DurhamWorks, in conjunction with The Forge, identified eight young people, who had the skills but not necessarily the confidence or experience to consider working as professional creative practitioners. They were given mentoring by The Forge and by a person working specifically in the field or genre the young person aspires to succeed in. The young people came from different parts of the county each with their own aspirations and challenges.

Elizabeth Liddell

Elizabeth Liddell took part in the programme. She writes her own songs with lyrics based on personal experience, and through the Working in the Arts project, Elizabeth focused on developing music workshops, building her confidence so she could lead community music workshops in turn helping participants with their own musical ability, confidence, and self-esteem. Elizabeth is now employed to run weekly workshops offered by Musinc based in the Tees Valley, earning money through sharing her own joy and enthusiasm for music making with others.

Elizabeth was mentored by musician, actor, and director Jim Kitson, originally from South Wales, who has spent most of his life living in North East England. Jim has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, The National Theatre, Northern Stage, as well as appearing in television series such as Vera, the detective series set in the North East and based on the stories of crime writer Ann Cleeves, as well as being Music Director for Northern Stage, Live Theatre and in the West End. He has also had a successful music career as a recording artist.

Jim says, “Elizabeth is a very talented singer-songwriter and it was a privilege to be able to work with such a dynamic young artist, helping her develop new teaching and participatory arts skills to augment her career as a performer. We focused on developing her workshop offer and, in the first ever workshop she delivered, she managed to make song-writing an accessible and exciting medium for others, giving joy and confidence to a group of absolute beginners. As an arts educator, and as a solo singer-songwriter, she is absolutely one to watch.”  Watch Elizabeth Liddle – Waiting On The Next One (official video) on YouTube.

Elizabeth says, “I am a musician and songwriter and feel that I gained so many great skills during my time on the programme. My main passion is songwriting and with the help of the staff at The Forge I discovered a love for developing and delivering songwriting and singing workshops. Prior to being involved in the programme I was unaware of this type of work and soon found I was able to create my own workshops which gave me the confidence boost to apply for jobs in participatory arts. I am now co-delivering as well as leading my own workshops to a range of children and young adults. The guidance from The Forge and Jim Kitson really helped steer me in the right direction and I am grateful for this experience.”

Dom Wright

The Forge was delighted to be able to support an up-and-coming young writer called Dom Wright. Despite suffering from cerebral palsy, a disability that significantly affects mobility, movement and fine motor skills, 16 year old Dominic joined the programme with a first draft of an impressive first novel and a steely determination to carve out a career for himself as a professional writer.

Bev Briggs is The Forge’s Creative Producer and was the project lead for Working in the Arts. Bev Briggs says, “Once we’d learnt more about Dom and his interests, we liaised with him, his parents and the DurhamWorks progression team, to design a creative learning programme tailored to support his chosen career. A key part of his learning journey was a series of one-to-one workshops (online and face to face) with Bob Beagrie, a poet and creative writing tutor at Teesside University. Bob helped finesse Dominic’s existing skills as well as introducing him to new poetry, playwriting formats and methods which offered new potential avenues for his writing career. We were also able to help Dom develop his digital storytelling skills by matching him with film animation specialist Sheryl Jenkins. This gave Dominic the opportunity to experiment with digital formats, combining spoken word skills with stop motion animation, which resulted in a powerful and compelling film-poem. Although this specific programme has now ended, we remain in touch with Dom and are looking for further opportunities to continue to support him with his writing.”

Bob Beagrie, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Teesside University, says, “The opportunity to work intensely with Dom in a one-to-one mentoring relationship over five weeks allowed me to hone in on his particular strengths and interests as a writer, and to tailor the programme uniquely to his needs. It was an absolute pleasure to see how he responded to the activities and reading material, and to watch his confidence and understanding of the various approaches to creative writing expand with focussed and guided practice. Dom has a lot of talent and great enthusiasm for writing as a way of expressing himself and his unique perspective.”

“Big Cousin” by Dom Wright

Yet again Big Cousin – I’m stipulated into your lair
For, to cross your bedroom door you cannot bare.

Dripping in disquiet, you refrain from revolving in your swivel chair.

You communicate through whiskered lips
Like a squirrel munching crisps.

Pyjama bottoms, bare feet and swathing bandana,
Perforated in the air is the pin of souring pores.

Fervent fear of socialising, gnaws deviantly on the chest of draws – droves of mice.

I push my potencies to the conversation – refuting any sag
Sensing my drive, eyes of concrete walls begin crumbling.

Fiendish angst slips from the bed covers – gravitated dew
Permitting our pupils to fuse for a second’s sinew.

Anxious billows crash upon the rock pools of his hairline.
But their abrasions are falling.

Core of brethren reaches out, it’s twining branches welding our blood.

I’ve got him – in the very room of incarcerating shrine
Phobia, deceased or in thrive – Big Cousin thine are mine.

DurhamWorks

DurhamWorks was created as the vehicle to deliver learning, training, employment, support, and development activities to residents of Durham aged 16-24 with a view to improving their future and helping them to progress into employment, education or training. The project is funded under European Social Fund (ESF) and Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) funding).

DurhamWorks recognised that a number of participants in the county had an interest and talent in an artistic medium and were keen to explore this further with support from experts in the field. After a tendering process The Forge secured a contract to deliver this programme on behalf of the partnership to great effect as can be seen from these case studies. Artist and illustrator Jaz Martin took part in the “Working in the Arts“ programme. Here is her story.

If you or someone you know is 16-24, resident in Durham and not currently in employment, education or training visit DurhamWorks to find out what help and support is available.

You can find more information on The Forge.