Art in Action - Creating Community Connections

If Staffordshire is known as the country's creative county, then Staffordshire Moorlands should be considered its crown jewel. This is not only because of the amazingly diverse range of art found throughout the moorlands but also due to the immense efforts of an organisation called Outside Arts. You may already know them; if not, your path will have crossed at some point with some element of their work. They provide funding, training, and every other kind of support imaginable to enable not only our artists to survive and thrive but also our communities to flourish.

Regardless of your opinions on art or how we define it, being in the presence of art, whether or not you're creative, art helps us feel better, enhances our connections, and can even improve our performance.

Last year, Outside granted 33 Creative Community Commissions, which can be considered as grants. The competition to receive a commission was intense, and artists, community groups, and organisations throughout Staffordshire Moorlands aimed to engage and delight as many Moorlands residents as possible, whether through spectacular or subtle means.

Cheadle COG was included in that number, and since communication is a huge part of what we do, we knew we wanted to do something that would prolong the impact of the group's projects, helping recipients connect in a longer-lasting way to the communities they support and beyond.

Here's what we decided to do:

1. Create an online space for each group to showcase their work - this doesn't apply to all groups because their style isn't product-based.

2. Create an online directory so that anyone who wants to reach out to them can do so easily.

3. Include their work in COGNEWS DNA by peppering our prints with the amazing work of 32 groups. Prints include supplements, COG Monthly, and now our new Pocket COG.

The commissions totalled £26,200, not a massive amount of money split 33 ways, but think of it as yeast in a loaf; that small amount helps lift whole organisations!

The decision on who the recipients would be was made by OUTSIDE’s advisory group and youth advisory group made up of local residents, and will support a wide range of arts activity to take place over the next year in the district’s towns, villages, and rural areas.

Projects span all kinds of art forms from heritage crafts to dance, and a variety of formats from workshops to festivals. These include the creation of a unique village flag by the people of Flash, a project exploring Staffordshire Moorlands folklore through photography and cyanotype printing, and capturing the stories and memories of residents in Draycott in the Moors.

OUTSIDE’s creative director Sarah Bird said: “The quantity and quality of applications received for the Creative Community Commissions this year was exceptional. It was wonderful to see how many proposals had the local community and residents at the heart of activity."

“The Creative Community Commissions are a big part of OUTSIDE’s ambition to support high quality creative arts activity across the whole of the Moorlands. The selected proposals ensure a wide range of residents will benefit from these projects.”

The successful 2025 Creative Community Commissions are:

• Ale Bravo – The Day of the Dead Celebration, Staffordshire Moorlands

• Amy Ford – Mum’s the Word creative sessions, Leek

• Art UK – Tagger workshops, Leek

• Bev Reardon – Collecting memories, Draycott in the Moors

• Biddulph Methodists – Creative workshops

• Biddulph Moor Community Association – Biddulph Moor Well Dressing Tableau

• Biddulph Youth and Community Zone – Young women’s photo project

• Bolton Gate Arts – Schools & community group arts workshops

• Borderland Voices – The Blackpool of the Potteries workshops & exhibition, Rudyard Lake

• Brown Edge Parish Council – Brown Edge Well Dressing

• Cheadle Arts – Cheadle Arts Festival

• Cheadle Cog – magazine printing

• Cheddleton Flint Mill Industrial Heritage Trust – Flint Garretaw: Music At The Mill

• Creative Cheadle Staffs – Outdoor creative messy sessions

• Draycott in the Moors Parish Council – Bus stop mini art galleries

• EqualBase Cheadle – Lion sculpture for The Wizard of Oz wellbeing garden

• Flash Village Hall – Community Flag

• Greenwood Growth – Bat trail, Leek

• Karen Hare – Leek Yarn Bombers

• Kate Dawes – Pen Drawing for Wellbeing Workshops, Blythe Bridge & Werrington

• Leek Open Studios – Participatory workshops

• Leek Town Council War Memorial Committee – Wool for poppies display

• Louie Young – Pugin After Dark festival, Alton

• Many Strands Textile Group – Scarves exhibition, Leek

• Moorlands Climate Action – Wassail event, Leek

• Moorlands Climate Action Youth Action group – The Lost Words at Wild Week

• Ruby Nixon – Mapping Myths, Staffordshire Moorlands

• Stockton Brook Time & Space – Mini ‘en plein air’ art festival, Endon & Stanley

• The Happy Makers – creative sessions for people with additional needs, Staffordshire Moorlands

• The Rudyard Lake Trust – Volunteers’ art workshop

• Teresa Pattison – Festival of Dance, Staffordshire Moorlands

• Waterhouses Youth Project – The Water That Joins Us series of events

• Woolly Wednesdays – Portable weaving loom, Staffordshire Moorlands

  
  

  Visit the Art in Action Directory

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Art in Action - Creating Community Connections created 5th January 26