What? As part of Word Up North’s BBC Contains Strong Language 2025 Engagement Programme, three Bradford primary schools with ‘Schools of Sanctuary’ status took part in a creative project to celebrate what it means to be and feel welcome in the city.
When? 2025.
Where? Hoyle Court Primary School in Shipley; Eastwood Community Primary School in Keighley; Westminster CE Primary Academy Bradford.
Partner: Bradford School’s of Sanctuary programme.
Artists: Professional poet Rachel Bower; singer and storyteller Furaha Mussanzi; and visual artist Emma Denby.
Our Aims
Students from Years 5 and 6 from three Bradford schools worked with poet Rachel Bower and singer and storyteller Furaha Mussanzi to explore words, images and experiences that mean and foster a culture of welcome. Furaha came to Bradford as a sanctuary seeker herself when a child. The focus of the project was exploring what it means to be and feel welcomed.
What We Did
During Refugee Week, participating students took part in a creative poetry workshop exploring the theme of welcome and sharing what kinds of things make them feel welcome including food, music, gestures of kindness and games.
Together they created a number of short poems and poetic images which poet Rachel Bower curated into one collective poem. The students then worked with visual artist Emma Denby to create a kinetic sculpture design inspired by coir welcome mats, entitled You’re Welcome, which presented the poem in a tactile way. They created stencils and printed images to represent their ideas of what welcome means and added these to the design. The sculpture was installed in Bradford City Library and unveiled at the BBC Contains Strong Language festival for visitors to enjoy.
Impact and feedback
Highly positive feedback was received from the many visitors who saw the sculpture, expressing strong support for the students’ work and how moving and joyful the poem was. During the course of the project Rachel Bower performed the poem at her Poetry Gala event at St George’s Hall showcasing this powerful message of welcome and unity from young people.
“I was surprised at the quality of the poetry produced in such a short time. They really engaged and understood and their poems were really heart felt.” – Teacher from a participating school.
“I think this was an incredibly important and powerful project. It gave many children in Bradford the opportunity to express themselves through poetry and art, to tell their stories, to be listened to, and to express their thought, opinions and ideas. The children had the chance to step into the shoes of others and to see how much they had in common. The project reflected the children’s stories back to them in the shared poem and artwork and this meant that they felt heard and proud of their stories and work and this is an incredibly transformative thing for young people to experience. The project also challenged stereotypes and barriers between people and encouraged communication and kindness.” – poet Rachel Bower.
“At Bradford Schools and Colleges of Sanctuary, we firmly believe that successful social change depends on a widely shared, persuasive vision of Welcome for All and hold onto a hopeful framework that re-imagines a better future for entire communities while bridging divisions between different groups. Through this creative process, pupils did not simply learn about welcome and inclusion but actively shaped and articulated it, strengthening their sense of agency and shared responsibility for the kind of society they wanted to live in.” – Bradford Schools and Colleges of Sanctuary Co-ordinator.
This project was delivered as part of the BBC Contains Strong Language Bradford 2025 Engagement Programme. It was produced by Word Up North in partnership with the BBC and Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture. BBC Contains Strong Language Bradford 2025 was funded by Arts Council England and Bradford 2025.
Artist Emma Denby, poet Rachel Bower, storyteller Furaha Mussanzi and Bradford Schools of Sanctuary Co-ordinator Kate Hart stand with the ‘You’re Welcome’ sculpture