How spoken word and street art project brought pride to Keighley youths

Published 17th Mar 2023, 11:50 BST

Both are on display on the railings of Holycroft Primary School in Keighley, the result of a six-week project between the Keighley Youth Service’s boys group, based at the Bangladeshi Community Association, and Ilkley Literature Festival.

Around 20 young people, aged 15 to 18, worked first with spoken word performer Saju Ahmed to explore their identity and what the local area means to them.

The themes in their powerful spoken word piece were then used to inspire a bright and bold celebratory piece of street art, featuring local businesses, landmarks and characters, supported by artist Tom Warrington (Ytho).

Young people in Keighley have taken part in a creative project to produce a spoken word piece and street art mural inspired by their town.

Emma Rochford, the project organiser for Ilkley Literature Festival, says: “It was all about empowering young people, giving them ownership of their space, making them feel proud of where they’re from and bigging up where they live.”

The project was developed after an Ilkley Literature Festival representative attended a meeting of the Keighley Together Steering Group to her about issues in the area including anti-social behaviour and vandalism.

Discussions focused on a need to raise the aspirations of young people in the community and how creative opportunities could be used to celebrate what makes the area unique and what people are proud of.

Young people who took part have spoken of how the project made them feel connected to where they live and boosted their confidence and communication skills.

Youth worker Aiysha Bi says: “The young people loved (being involved) as it’s something different and a new way to express themselves.”

The unveiling of the artwork and the boys’ achievements were celebrated last month with a community party at Holycroft Primary’s Family Learning Hub which included a DJ and a live street art demo that saw one of the school’s benches turned into a new work of art.

In helping to organise the project, Emma says she wanted to demonstrate that “creative opportunities are vital for people and we need more of them”.

“They bring people together, bring neighbourhoods together and we need to be doing it more. It’s opportunities young people are craving.”

“The celebration event was a really lovely way to round off the project and celebrate the achievements of the young people,” Emma adds.

"It was brilliant to see everyone who’d played a part in the project coming together such as the Youth Service, the artists, the funders (Bradford District Council Neighbourhoods Service) and of course the young people themselves…We hope people enjoy coming to see the piece and it inspires more creative thinking.”

Ilkley Literature Festival celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2023.