Thanks to funding from Rochdale Development Agency, Action Together offered the Rochdale Creates Community Fund investment to support VCFSE organisations who have not worked with arts and culture before to build relationships with local artists, and start using creativity as a tool for wellbeing and strengthening communities.
Whether it’s helping someone process their mental health, trauma, build their confidence or generally improve their wellbeing through creativity, we know that arts and culture can play a big role in health and wellbeing.
Art and culture can also connect people to the place they live, local stories and histories, and feel proud of the communities they’re part of.
Action Together and partners offered a match making service for groups interested in a certain artistic practice, and wanting to connect with a local artist – whether that was woodwork or textiles or pottery, mural painting or performance, or so much more.
Priorities for this fund were for community groups not already engaging in arts and culture to collaborate with local artists in order to:
- Build confidence and improve wellbeing of the people you support, or
- Build a stronger connection to the place they live
This project was funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Projects funded via the Rochdale Creates Fund, Round 2:
| Member Organisation | Amount Awarded | Investment Projects |
| £4,500 | We are planning to have 10, two-hourly sessions of screen-printing fabrics and digital design and print onto canvas bags. Each of the sessions will have Chris Foster photography from the Rochdale Creates website. Chris will teach through photography, creative art and will take pictures on other sessions. The target audience is for community members who may feel isolated and who be struggling with mental health. Even for members who like art, the session will be aimed at, but not exclusively for, women in the community who are facing difficult challenges and who are from diverse and deprived backgrounds. | |
Artful Make It Happen | £3,894 | We aim to create meaningful opportunities for local families to come together and create relationships with the wider community. By creating a safe space for communities to come together and explore their own creativity we will create a stronger sense of place and a more cohesive community. Neighboring communities will have the chance to come together and support each other during the sessions. As relationships develop, cohesion in communities will be stronger, improving wellbeing in individuals and the community as a whole. Our project will:
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£4,141.81 | Our aim is to provide a drop in session, an open space with artists on offer to chat, demonstrate and run simple activities to find what inspires our community. This will run over two consecutive weekends with the intention of providing a creative space to explore , meet people, find out what interests skill they have and the next weekend to tailor sessions to focus and provide a more structured session. | |
| Caring and Sharing Rochdale | £3,986.08 | We want to use textile-based art sessions to help people engage with their own creativity while also connecting with Rochdale’s proud history in the textile industry. Rochdale has a rich and vibrant connection to textiles, and this is visible in many of the historical landmarks and archives we see around, such as Rochdale Library, Town Hall, and the Touchstones Museum. Through these art sessions, participants will start with accessible activities such as simple drawing exercises inspired by historical materials. Then they will progress to more advanced techniques like tie-dye, mesh transfer, and impasto painting. The creative process will not only encourage participants to develop new skills but also serve as a therapeutic outlet, helping them process emotions, reduce stress, and feel more engaged with their surroundings. |
| £4,232 | Threads of Expression brings together a variety of creative activities, including painting, drawing, sketchbook workshops, and crafts, to help participants relax, focus on themselves, and improve their confidence and wellbeing. Over the course of 45 hours across six weeks, participants will explore different creative outlets in a supportive and inspiring environment. The different threads of creativity - art and craft activities - will come together to form a cohesive and meaningful experience for participants. Each workshop is designed to help people find a creative practice that resonates with them, whether it’s through experimenting with paints and sketching or engaging in hands-on craftwork. | |
Echoes of Hope (EOH) | £3315.80 | This is an eight-week inter-generational project engaging 8-10 selected volunteer’s senior citizens of our community with 15-18 young female 'residents' and other community members through Arts project in which will yield several hand-made quilts depicting a culture, history of Greater Manchester, in particular Rochdale and of each community living amongst us. As the famous quote attest 'those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it' Residents of three closed neighbourhood’s wards - Rochdale, Heywood, Middleton - and its surrounding areas in quilt Arts project which aimed primarily at addressing social inclusion and create a platform for community cohesion. It brings groups together that do not ordinarily interact (youth and senior) and create opportunities for deeper/mutual relationship between different communities and . build confidence and improve wellbeing of the people we support. |
£4,500 | Working with local artist Perveen Hussain, the Royal Exchange Theatre and our Over 50s Mens & Womens groups KYP will create an interactive map of our participants poetic memories of Rochdale. Two parallel strands of creative process, in which participants in the Men and Women’s groups create poetic memories, which will be woven into a shared outcome: a free open-access map of participants poetic recorded of memories of Rochdale and the places to which they feel connected. Through six workshops, participants in each group will build confidence in their creative voices by exploring elements of poetic practice and storytelling as they explore their memories of places in Rochdale. The project offers creative forms of peer-to-peer support – in hearing each other’s tales of meaningful places participants will build courage and comfort in going to places they might not otherwise have gone. Alongside the creative workshops, making a map aims to support participants in walking around Rochdale, supporting their physical health and wellbeing, while building a stronger connection to the place where they live and broadening their sense of belonging and home beyond their immediate locale | |
| £2,614 | We are looking to partner with a local artist from Rochdale to join our weekly sessions, aimed at building confidence in children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Drama has proven to be an effective therapeutic tool, offering children who face communication challenges a creative outlet beyond verbal expression. Through Dramatic Little Bookworms (Movement in Motion programme), we aim to provide a safe and nurturing environment where children can develop crucial life skills in a familiar and supportive setting. | |
| £4,500 | The African Textiles and Carnival Costumes Exhibition aims to empower and uplift the Rochdale community especially the African Community by addressing key issues such as poverty, unemployment, and social isolation. The project will involve our community members and other BAME COMMUNITIES, particularly newly arrived individuals, refugees, asylum seekers, and disadvantaged families, in a creative and educational journey. Through weekly sewing workshops for four weeks, participants will design and create vibrant carnival costumes and traditional African textiles for the 2025 carnival Parades. | |
| £3,377 | We believe that creativity has the power to unite, strengthen, and inspire. We want to create a series of art workshops that bring the people of Rochdale together to celebrate both their artistic talents and their shared passion for Rochdale AFC. By collaborating with local artists, we will offer a diverse range of art sessions, each designed to build confidence, foster a sense of pride, and strengthen the connection people have to the place they live creating artwork inspired by Rochdale AFC. The workshops will include watercolour, mixed media, spray paint art, doodle art, portraits, and creating art from recycled materials. We will be working with local artists including Victoria Ash Art for watercolour and mixed media, Jamie Buckley for spray paint, This Girl Draws for doodle art, Sharon Castles for portraits, and Scott Webster for recycled art. These artists are not only skilled in their craft but also passionate about working with local communities to make art accessible and inclusive. | |
| £4,463 | With the grant, we will bring Galaxy of Thoughts to life, a transformative project that gives local teenagers a safe space to explore their emotions, discover their unique strengths, and feel truly seen and valued. At a time when the mental health crisis among young people is at its peak, this program will provide hope, healing, and a sense of belonging. This project isn’t just about creating great art, it’s about changing lives. Every teenager who walks through our doors will leave with more than just a painting; they’ll gain confidence, hope, and the belief that they are more than their challenges. In a world that often feels overwhelming, we’re offering them a chance to take control of their story, to see their own strength, and to feel a deep sense of connection and belonging. The program will take place at our warm and welcoming hub in Littleborough, a safe haven where creativity and connection thrive. The project will run over 12x 2.5hour sessions, culminating in a powerful community exhibition that celebrates the participants’ growth and creativity. | |
| £4,174 | Our aim is to start a creative photography group at the Recovery Republic to be used by our members and the people living in the borough and surrounding area, giving people the opportunity to get involved with a wonderful new project to engage within the community, experiencing our wonderful town and the surrounding area. We will hold creative half days where we will take the group out to local areas to help build confidence and to take photos of the area capturing the Past, present, and future of Heywood, researching buildings the history and heritage of Heywood | |
| £4,396.96 | The idea of the Elephants Trail group in Rochdale is for its members to work with an artist to create art that helps to explain severe and multiple disadvantage to people without lived experience. Creating the art will in itself help people who have experienced multiple disadvantage to reflect their experience, to build their confidence and mental well-being, and to have new ways to explain how multiple disadvantage could be addressed more effectively. | |
| £4,310 | We are requesting funding to host 5 interactive events aimed at promoting health and wellbeing through creativity for Rochdale’s communities. These events will engage local people in creative activities that foster physical, mental, and emotional health, addressing significant health inequalities present in the area. By integrating arts and culture with health promotion, the project aligns with the Greater Manchester Creative Health Strategy, which seeks to use creativity to improve health outcomes and reduce social isolation. We will have other local organisations present at the events so participants can benefit from understanding what Rochdale has to offer and feel more connected and confident. | |
| £3,300 | We are planning of organising and delivering a local Pakistani and Kashmiri culture and language based short film project. This project will help residents from Deeplish, Newbold and central Rochdale wards to come together, share their personal stories and experiences for developing the script. The whole project will improve wellbeing of participants and all involved in terms of volunteering, sharing ideas, stories or experiences for benefiting community. |
Projects funded via the Rochdale Creates Fund, Round 1:
| Member Organisation | Amount Awarded | Investment Projects |
| £3,150 | Funding will be used to support research into the history of Ukrainians in Rochdale, exploring the archive at Touchstone Heritage Centre, interviews with members of Rochdale council who have been supportive of our community in Rochdale. It is planned that we will work with Touchstones Rochdale. The project will ensure that there is a permanent and accessible archive of the Ukrainian diaspora and the contribution that they have made to the wider community in Rochdale. This has the potential to become an important piece of work and archive as the Ukrainian community becomes fragmented. | |
£4,500 | This proposal is a crucial part of our long-time vision and goal to enhance the outside of our building, reclaim wasted space in our immediate surroundings, to set the precedent for our community that we should be proud of our area, people have the power to make impactful change, maintain high standards and that our community deserves a well-kept, vibrant and green place to live. We want to visually engage our neighbours, local residents, and the wider Langley community through visual art on our external building. We can people to be inquisitive about our building, the power of people led movements - we want to uplift, connect, empower and take people on a journey of ‘what might be!’ We aim to do this by commissioning Manchester based artist/s to create a large external mural on the frontage of our building…to be a visual beacon of welcome, change and expression. | |
| Echoes of Hope (EOH) | £4,497.35 | Community Drumming Choir is a hands-on activity which all community members including fathers, mothers, adults and children participate in together. Cohorts of 36+ identified fathers, mothers, adults and the children will meet at least twice a week for 16 weeks at Spotland Community Association, or through Zoom/Facebook/Teams to learn beating West African drums. The goal is to run eight sessions a month with 36 individuals of our community including children (aged 8 to 14) for 16 weeks @ 2.5 hours per session during summer holiday and 1.5 hours per session during school term times s for a total of 32 sessions. |
Get Up and Grow | £4,500 | We are seeking funding of £4,500 to support a community-driven garden art project that will be led by a local artist connecting local people together with nature. This project will focus on the creation of garden ceramics and sculptures through a series of indoor and outdoor workshops, ultimately resulting in an outdoor exhibition that will build stronger connections to place and enhance the local environment. |
Pakeeza Women's Group | £4,350.00 | The project will be delivered with two artists and 2 volunteers to two men’s groups and two women’s groups at Castlemere Community centre. The sessions will be on Mondays and Wednesdays. For visual art and creative writing, participants will be asked to bring any one treasured object from home, both artists will lead on visual art and creative writing exercises to help participants build a poem/short paragraph and painting, about themselves using these objects as a topic. |
Teen Lives Matter | £4,500 | Teen Lives Matter is a Community Interest Company based in Littleborough, who provide 1-2-1 therapy sessions to teenagers who are struggling with mental health issues including depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. 'Unleashing my internal Warrior' is an art project we aim to deliver to our teens to help them explore their emotions, and free the mental cage they have created within their mind through the power of art and imagination. The project aims to take them from an exploration of Who am I? on a pathway to Who I am capable of being? How do I get there? And what will that look and feel like? As part of this project, we will collaborate powerful free style art therapy sessions alongside a dungeons and dragon role play program. The teenagers will be invited to create their own inner warrior and fire breathing dragon, this will be created through many different material supplies and put together on large canvas’s, sketch books and plaster cast modelling using special art therapy techniques alongside, the idea of this is to help them identify their inner strength and also their struggle with their inner demons. |
The Lighthouse Project | £4,458 | We would like to deliver 12 artist-led sessions focusing on creativity as a way of improving health, mental health, social connectivity, and wellbeing. Taking a lead from the '5 Ways to Wellbeing' the activities will help attendees appreciate how they can use creativity to relax, improve their concentration, develop observational skills (taking notice), and make connections with other people and their local community; including participating in local culture activities, and socialising. The 2-hour sessions held weekly will allow people to use creativity to build their confidence, take ownership of their own creative process, as well as contributing to the sessions through co-design and participation. We group will work with 10 attendees per week (potentially up to 15) to explore different ways they can communicate in creative ways, e.g. acrylic still life, sculptural textures, vocalisation, collective creativity, contour drawing. Activities will be co-designed with group attendees each week. |