aunty social
Aunty Social is a community arts organisation that gives people opportunities to
develop their creativity, learn new skills and connect with others through
positive arty activities. We coordinate a diverse programme of arts and cultural
activities designed to bring people together in a safe, supportive, gentle
space. What about the future? Well, we’re keen to build on everything we’ve
achieved. We’re looking to employ staff to help us with our new venue and with
office work – hey, if we can do all of this in our free time on evenings and
weekends, imagine what we could achieve if we had some help! All in all, we want
to continue offering the people of the Fylde Coast even more great things to do.
We want to share and make great art in our local communities so we can all enjoy
all the social benefits. A little history We started out back in 2011 as a group
of friends who wanted something fun, affordable and social to do. There were
very few ways to meet new people that didn’t involve going to a pub or a bar. So
we raided our attics, scoured our wardrobes and went off to a car boot sale to
raise £30 for our very first workshop. Since then, we’ve done all manner of
lovely activities and reaching thousands of local people. We’ve received funding
from a variety of sources such as Arts Council England, Blackpool Council, BFI,
Richmond Fellowship, Leftcoast, Street to Scale and EU Youth Initiatives but
this is not the majority of our income. We really believe in sustainability and
work hard to earn our own income through workshop delivery, research and
creative retail sales; making sure that projects can pay for themselves or
each-other. Fast forward to 2022 and we now have a variety of projects on the go
as well as online arts and culture magazine Blackpool Social Club and the Winter
Gardens Film Festival. We’re still completely volunteer-run and led; we are
super proud of all our helpers who help us put on events and activities to a
professional standard.
