24 Acts of Kindness

This textile wall hanging was created by Brenda McCormick, Carole McCourt, Delia Burrows, Val Moderate and Alison Parry of the West Moor Stitcherz Group who worked with artist Rachael Brien on our social action project at the amazing West Moor Community Centre. Proud to remember the area’s past, they used recycled textiles to commemorate the mining heritage of West Moor and George Stephenson’s legacy. The banner was unveiled on 1st December 2024.

Real Voice was an inclusive, new and exciting youth music project for Northumberland. Working across 4 sites in Ashington and Cramlington, young people developed new music skills, increased self-esteem, built confidence, developed skills and interests, increased motivation and stretched their abilities. It developed regular music engagement and activity with professional musicians, and encouraged audiences for their work.

Here To There offers people over 55 years old in North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland the opportunity to take part in workshops, walks and trips with the aim of improving mental and physical health. Participants have so far worked with numerous artists in multiple locations.

Our weekly fun, stop motion animation workshops at Wallsend Boys Club help families spend time together whilst developing animation skills and building imagination, confidence and creativity. Part of our Better Connect Creative Health programme which promotes better health and wellbeing.

North Tyneside Youth Dance led by Anthony Lo Guidice are hosted with time and space at Helix Arts, ensuring young dancers can access high quality dance and supporting them in creative exploration and artistic inquisition. The weekly evening sessions at our new HQ are powerful, immersive and the young people always have such fun.

Our Story is all about preserving our 40-year heritage by reconnecting stories to people and sharing them in fresh ways. We’re revisiting and celebrating our history through the eyes of individuals, communities, and artists across the North East today. Collaborating with heritage and archive specialists, we’re reflecting on the past, to understand the present and shape the future.

Artists’ Agency is our artist development programme. It offers a range of support for artists including training opportunities, mentoring and networking events in North Tyneside, Newcastle and Darlington. We offer individually tailored support for artists to help them develop their careers the way they want. For Haley, the support we offered was literally game changing.

Newborn Parents was commissioned by Helix Arts to enable artist Rachael Brien to create space to hold birthing parents with their new babies. Co-facilitated with writer Amanda Quinn, they developed a series of creative writing workshops which explored the physical, emotional and societal experiences associated with having a baby. Rachael collated their words and embroidered them into a cot-size quilt. This wall of rhetorical questions, insights and statements around this important transitional time for new born parents was displayed in public spaces during 2024.

We’ve worked with more than 800 local people to co-design two public artworks in North Shields town centre to be unveiled in 2025. International Street Artist Aaron Li-Hill is producing one sculpture and one large-scale mural using all of the participant’s artworks and incorporating them into his own unique style. The project asks what people think is important in North Shields’ past, present and future. It will make a bold statement about community-led public art and showcase the town’s culture-led regeneration.

Useful Stuff for Artists is part of our Artists’ Agency programme in North Shields. Regular sessions focus on different areas of learning and development, facilitated by an artist or arts professional. The events are great places for artists to not only learn and share but also to network and develop new relationships with others in their field.

Youthforia is a podcast series made by students from John Spence High School in North Shields. They have been working with Screenboo to gain skills to bring their voices online including generating their own branding, writing, recording and interviewing to create fresh new content, editing, curating their social media platforms, and shouting about what’s important to them!

Here to There offers creative workshops and walks for anyone over 55. Facilitated by artists and creatives across North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Sunderland, sessions encourage people to get out, get active, socialise, and learn new creative skills. Our weekly mosaic sessions in North Tyneside have been very popular, with 2 sessions running each week in North Shields and Wallsend.

Living Proof was a four-year collaboration with diverse artists who worked with people affected by AIDS and HIV. The project aimed to redress this imbalance by creating imagery that confronted the social and cultural issues surrounding the epidemic. Michael Jeffries was one of the original participants. He has continued using collage throughout his career and has recently hosted workshops during our World AIDS Day event.

#Never was funded by North Tyneside Council. They commissioned us to use participatory arts with a community research lens to gather young people’s insights into drugs and alcohol. We worked with young people so they felt safe sharing their experiences with us anonymously and produced a report to the council which highlighted key findings from this innovative, sensitive project.

We commissioned artists Sofia Barton and Lindsay Nicholson as part of our Artists’ Agency Newcastle programme to work with community members in the city centre. They co-produced four large, colourful banners which were installed in the Grainger Market Arcade in May 2024.

When Mesfin began volunteering with us, he was in the process of applying for asylum. He worked on organising our archive and helped at events and workshops. Mesfin has now got his papers and a job! He still volunteers with us when he can.

Here To There is about creative workshops and walks across three boroughs. Participants in Sunderland produced amazing artworks and improved their health and wellbeing.

Narrative Shift is about changing narratives around queerness and disability via spoken word. Led by LGBTQIA+ and disabled poet Amy Langdown, this 6-session spoken word project is open to anyone who identifies as both LGBTQIA+ and disabled and who wants to reframe narratives.

Artists’ Agency Darlington Artists is a free mentoring programme for artists who live or work in Darlington and want to develop their work with local communities. We support the artists taking part with a £500 bursary and match funding to develop their ideas. Lizzie Lovejoy was one of our mentees.

Falling On Your Feet is our dance and health programme. It’s part of our Better Connect Creative Health programme. It’s been running for 10 years and helps people over 55 to work with professional artists to create dance together, expressing their stories through movement, whilst developing strength and flexibility. The dancing is followed by a cuppa and a time to chat and make friends. And it’s amazing to see so many friendships flourish!

We have been helping young people get into the arts for many years. At our recent 40th anniversary celebrations, two young people who first got into art when they were teenagers told their stories about how taking part in Make It Happen gave them the confidence and skills to go places they never thought possible. Here’s Emily explaining what she got from her time with Helix Arts.

We have been helping young people get into the arts for many years. At our recent 40th anniversary celebrations, Julia performed her own new music and explained how Make It Happen gave her the confidence and skills to get into music. Here’s Julia explaining how the unique opportunity she got with Helix Arts should be made available to more young people.

Playful Pavements was the first step towards helping families on the Meadow Well estate in North Shields reclaim their streets for play. Residents would like to have an area of the estate designated as a Play Street. We began by helping them draw and colour designs on walkways and build dens on underused grass areas.

Helix Arts is a vibrant charitable arts organisation, and we owe our success to the incredible generosity of our communities, trustees, and volunteers. We are deeply grateful for their support – ensuring our projects are always wonderful. We’re proud to have created safe spaces where people can meet new friends and share their experiences for more than 40 years. Here’s to the next 40!