Become a Friend

Schools & Communities

Your Town, My Town, Our Town

Your Town, My Town, Our Town

Back to Creative Places

Your Town, My Town, Our Town

August 2024 – March 2027

Your Town, My Town, Our Town is a three-year youth engagement programme in Swaffham, in partnership between Norfolk & Norwich Festival and Breckland District Council. It forms an integral part of a wider High Street regeneration project,  Swaffham – A Historic Market Town, which aims to revive the town’s historic high streets and champion its rich character, culture and heritage assets.  

Recognising that local young people are often disconnected from developments and from the social and cultural infrastructure of Swaffham, Norfolk & Norwich Festival has been commissioned to deliver this programme from 2024 to 2027. Through it, we will support and enable Swaffham’s young people to help shape their towns future through a programme of activities that bring their voice to the fore.   

The project aims to put creativity at the heart of how children and young people experience their town by making a space where they can share experiences; create new ones; showcase their talents; and build skills for their futures, all while fostering a deeper connection to their community. Your Town, My Town, Our Town will create a model of youth engagement that will help bring young people’s ideas to the forefront of conversations and planning. 

Year 1 – Your Town 

The programme launched in the summer of 2024 and involved a series of co-created explorations, discussions, talks, workshops and creative activities with local young people that led to the creation of a film in which they outlined their views of the town and what they hoped for the future. 

The film will be screened to an invited audience of local stakeholders in March 2025, with a public presence in the town also planned. It is intended that the film will help instigate a conversation on how to better integrate young people’s views into future town planning. 

Year 2 – My Town 

With year 2 of the programme fast approaching, the Festival Connect & Create team are working to form an advisory group, the Cultural Connectors, made up of young people, local council, teachers, and organisations with a focus on young people, to assist in developing the programme. We’re excited to share more about Year 2 of the programme in the coming months.  

Artists

Mountain Way Pictures

Location

Swaffham, Norfolk

Participants

7-23 years olds

Partners

Historic England, Breckland District Council, Swaffham Town Council and Swaffham Cultural Consortium


Supported by National Lottery Heritage Fund

 

Arts make life better

Norfolk & Norwich Festival brings tens of thousands of people together in celebration – it has been doing this for over 250 years. Through our May Festival and our year-round arts education work, focusing on children and young people, we lead and support celebration, creativity and curiosity in communities across Norfolk and the region.

This year we begin an exciting new initiative, Festival Connect & Create that will bring creative opportunities to those schools and communities with least provision. Creativity transforms people’s lives. It builds cohesive communities, develops vital skills and supports health and wellbeing. We want more people to have access to creative opportunities.

Please consider donating to support and develop this work. With your help we can increase access to the life changing power of the arts.

Registered Charity No. 116442

Amount to Donate £ 0
£