The Secret Life of Parkwood (Shhh......as only seen by kids!)

The Secret Life of Parkwood is a community-led creative project celebrating Parkwood woods in Keighley through memory, imagination, and storytelling.

Developed with the volunteer group Friends of Parkwood, the project builds on their memories booklet by collecting contemporary experiences from local young people and families to connect them with their local heritage space and promote the woods.

In collaboration with the volunteer group, Word Up North, and Photo Hub North, a series of creative sessions took place with Year 3 pupils from Parkwood Primary School. The children were invited into the woods to explore freely and using cameras/phones they photographed the features that captured their attention-trees, paths, textures, and hidden details. They then transformed these into folklore-inspired stories, creating a mix imagination, real history and personal experience.

Illustrator Nicola Storr was commissioned to translate these stories into the illustrated trail map, bringing the children’s folklore, memories, and discoveries to life visually.

The Secret life of Parkwood is the young person’s guide to this beautiful green space, and how you can interact with local heritage through creative storytelling.

Special thanks to Parkwood Primary School, Friends of Parkwood, Word Up North, Photo Hub North, Nicola Storr, and Bradford Council Neighbourhoods Team.

Discovering creativity and culinary delights at the Highfield Centre!

Mohila’s Street Delights recipe book is a celebration of flavour, heritage, and community.

The group worked together with Lauren, to create the publication to share their favourite street foods from Bangladesh, stories, images and show you how to make them yourselves.

They chose Bangladeshi snack recipes for this booklet, to celebrate the rich culinary heritage and cultural importance of these beloved foods. Snacks like Bhapa Pitha, Handesh and Jhal Muri, are not only delicious but also deeply traditional and passed down through generations. By sharing these recipes, they hope to preserve the unique flavours and connect with their roots while inspiring others.

You can also listen to a sound piece commissioned by Farhana Khan, featuring recordings of the group sharing how they personally approach the recipes. These were compiled and edited together into a beautiful sound piece by Farhana, which captures the energy and passion the group brought to this project.

Special thanks to group leader Fatima Bibi and the Highfield Community Association.

The Highfield men's group created decorated tablecloths with commissioned artist Zareena Bano. The group explored which parts of their heritage they felt most important to share. The men meet weekly at the Highfield Centre as part of a wellbeing-focused programme that supports older men in Keighley through connection, creativity, and community.

During the project, food emerged as a central theme, both as part of their cultural heritage, and a meaningful weekly moment when the group comes together to eat, converse and connect over food.

The tablecloths celebrate this shared tradition while also reflecting the group’s South Asian heritage through Islamic geometric patterns and tessellated designs. Together, they represent both the everyday community life and the deeper cultural stories that connect the group.

Special thanks for group leader Zatoon Akram, the Highfield Community Association and Zareena Bano.

The K-Town Cart!

The K-Town Cart is a vibrant, mobile arts and heritage stall that tours Keighley, offering free, creative workshops for all to explore local stories through various arts activities.  Its mobility aims to make art and culture accessible and involve local people in creative projects, by bringing activity right to their doorstep. The wider K-Town Cart programme celebrates and engages with Keighley's local heritage in a fun, interactive way, to foster creativity and community spirit in the town. 

The Story Huddlers: Tales from The K-Town Cart

In 2025, the cart hosted a series of live interactive performances, produced and performed by Falling Stars Theatre Company. We wanted to capture and celebrate the real, local stories of the people of Keighley through immediate, pop-up theatre.

The "K-Town Cart” would appear in various local parks and residential areas in Keighley. Onboard were the Story Huddlers-on a mission to collect stories from around the world to tell the stories of 2025. Their primary ethos? Stories live forever, so why not collect them right now?

The performers would chat with local people, gathering real stories about their community, area, and local champions. The performers would then transform these collected stories into lively, improvised performances, created and staged on the spot for the public.

Special thanks to Beccy Durham and Falling Stars Theatre Company, and the Bradford Council Neighbourhoods Team for bringing this project to life.

All aboard the One In A Million Bus!

The interactive installation celebrates the creativity, voices and heritage of the young people in Keighley from the local charity One In A Million.

They been working closely with local artist Sian Atkinson to explore creativity, culture, and heritage through art.

One In A Million is a Bradford based charity that engages predominantly with disadvantaged children and young people, through sports, the arts and enterprise. They use formal and informal education as a delivery mechanism to break the cycles of deprivation over their young lives, valuing and celebrating their uniqueness, and letting them know they are ‘one in a million’.

The group recreated their iconic One In A Million minibus, which has already made a stop at Keighley Creative and Bradford Arts Centre. Their minibus is used to take the young people on trips and activities during school holidays, including activities like camping, the seaside and the cinema. The bus tells the stories of the young people, as it represents the opportunities and activities the young people have access to by being a part of this youth group. Step inside to discover even more artwork created by the group.

Through their art, they’ve explored their past, present, and future. The past celebrates memories of trips, friendships, and experiences shared through One In A Million. The present reflects who they are now-their interests, passions, and the things that make them unique. And the future looks at their hopes, dreams and ambitions.

Together, these artworks tell a story of creativity, community, and belonging, celebrating the voices of young people in Bracken Bank.

Special thanks to the young people of One In A Million and ‘The Bracken Bank Crew’, artist Sian Atkinson, youth leader Leone Taylor, and the Sue Belcher Centre.