We Are The Champions

Ossett Observer is pleased to announce that we have won an Action For Market Towns Award.

We’re the North Zone winners of the ‘Towns Alive Award’ for ‘Environment and Culture’ for our work in Ossett this past 18 months.

We’re now invited to the Awards Dinner in November, where we find out if we are the overall national winners of the Trailblazer Award. But I have to say, getting this far and being recognised by our peers in cultural regeneration is a magnificent thing. We were nominated by Dan Thompson of ‘Riot Clean Up’, ‘Empty Shops Network’ fame and our work has been commended for being made with a sense of place.

Judges Comments “The project created art with a sense of place; actively engaged over 600 participants and an audience of over 7000; and has lead to relationships and partnerships which will develop further accessible community arts projects and an independent community music project.”

Chris Wade, the chief executive of AMT said:“We can’t pretend that towns and high streets are not facing tough conditions and challenges. But they’re not sitting back and waiting for a knight in shining armour to save them. The regional winners of the Towns Alive Awards demonstrate passion, commitment, inventive ideas and the will to make these ideas happen, creating projects which have provided real benefits to their communities and businesses.It’s always been a priority to us to make relevant work, work that celebrates Ossett, its people and their skills and every project has been inspired by an Ossett Story, or an #OssettOriginal. We can already see the legacy of work we started in how other organisations in the town are thinking, planning and making their events and activities.We’d like to thank your partners in helping us to deliver this work. Arts Council England who funded much of the activity, Building Ossett Better who were partner funders and helped us to reach Ossett businesses, Trinity Church who were partners in delivery of the work and gave us a beautiful venue to work in and Wakefield Council who supported the initiative and recognised the impact it had on the town.

To celebrate our award we’re going to make an E-book to try and tell the story of what we’ve achieved since 2011 and who we have been working with. And we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed for November.

Thank you to everyone, artists, makers, participants, volunteers and funders.

Jacqui Wicks