Community Cohesion Project
The Community Cohesion Project is all about bringing people in Sunderland closer together. Led by The Cultural Spring and the Community Cohesion Steering Group, the project will use storytelling and creativity to help communities share experiences, celebrate what makes us unique, and build stronger connections through events and activities shaped by local people.
About the Project
The Community Cohesion Project has been set up by The Cultural Spring and the Community Cohesion Steering Group to bring people in Sunderland closer together. It comes in response to the public disorder that took place in summer 2024, which left some of our neighbourhoods feeling unsettled and divided.
This project is about repairing those fractures, building understanding, and celebrating the strength and diversity of our communities. Together with local groups and organisations, we’ll explore the theme of storytelling – giving people the chance to share their own experiences, listen to others, and discover the things that connect us.
Everything will be done through co-creation, which means that the ideas, stories and creativity of local residents will shape what happens. The project will lead to a series of creative events and activities designed to bring people together, spark conversations, and highlight the pride and resilience that runs through Sunderland.
Above all, we want this project to create safe, welcoming spaces where everyone feels listened to, valued and inspired – helping us to grow stronger as a community, side by side
Projects Involved:
Southpaw
HOME: The Stories That Build Us is a community-led creative project by Southpaw Company that brings people across Sunderland together to share their stories. In response to the divisions felt after the summer 2024 unrest, the project invites residents from all five localities to explore what home, identity, and belonging mean to them through fun, supportive creative workshops. These shared experiences will come together as a short film and an immersive four-screen installation, celebrating the voices, stories, and humanity that make Sunderland what it is.
Unfolding Theatre
Unfolding Theatre is a creative storytelling programme made up of three workshops taking place between December and February, with a live celebration event and online sharing in Sunderland in late March. Focused on community cohesion, this project brings together people from across Sunderland’s different generations, viewpoints and neighbourhoods to reflect on where the city is now and their hopes for its future. Participants can share personal stories about Sunderland, exchange and respond to stories with other groups across the city, and explore creative ways to perform and record them using words, music and visuals. The project concludes with a live event celebrating stories from multiple groups and communities.
Friends of the Drop In
Friends of the Drop In will deliver a community storytelling project exploring the experiences of people who are new to Sunderland. The project will focus on the challenges of settling into a new city, including adapting to a different culture, overcoming language barriers, and raising children in an unfamiliar environment. Through creative activities and shared stories, the project will create a supportive space for participants to reflect on their journeys, share their experiences, and feel more connected to life in Sunderland.
Targeted Youth Services
Targeted Youth Services will deliver two creative projects working with young people across Sunderland. One project will offer one-to-one creative sessions with an artist, giving young people a safe and supportive space to explore their interests, express themselves, and build confidence through creativity, with a focus on wellbeing rather than producing a finished artwork. The second project will work with young people involved with the service to explore what it means to be a Mackem, encouraging reflection on identity, community, pride in place, and the impact of their actions on others.
Winnibell Family Hubs
Winnibell Family Hub will lead a creative project inviting young people and community members to share personal stories about their lives, memories, and cultural backgrounds through drawing. These artworks will be brought together and transformed into a large-scale wallpaper mural installed in the family hub, celebrating the diversity and shared experiences of the local community and helping to build a sense of pride, connection, and belonging.
ICOS
ICOS will work with their women’s group and artist Sabina Sallis to explore the development of an Eastern European art and food festival. The project will focus on sharing cultural traditions, creativity, and food as a way to bring people together, celebrate heritage, and create welcoming spaces for connection and exchange within the Sunderland community.
What do we mean by Community Cohesion?
When we talk about community cohesion, we mean helping people from all walks of life feel part of something bigger – a community where everyone feels welcome, valued, and safe.
It’s about building strong relationships, finding the things we share, and respecting the things that make us different. It means tackling unfairness and prejudice, and making sure everyone has the chance to be heard and to take part in community life.
At its heart, community cohesion is about trust, kindness, and looking out for one another. When these values are in place, communities can grow stronger together and thrive.
The wider Community Cohesion project
The Community Cohesion Project brings together a range of creative activities, all designed to strengthen connections and celebrate Sunderland’s diverse communities. To make sure the project reflects local voices, The Cultural Spring has brought together a Community Cohesion Steering Group made up of community members and organisations. This group helps guide decisions across the whole programme, including choosing the artists we work with.
The project includes:
A large-scale commission – engaging artist/s with a wide range of communities and organisations to explore how storytelling can both celebrate and challenge local people, fostering the creation of stronger communities.
Up to 10 creative micro-commissions – local groups and organisations will work with an artist to explore an idea, challenge, or question that helps build stronger community connections.
Go & See visits – opportunities for people from different backgrounds to come together and experience creative and cultural events both in Sunderland and further afield.
A final celebration event – bringing everyone together to share artwork, celebrate achievements, and enjoy a meal as one community. The shape of this event will grow and evolve as the projects develop, guided by the Steering Group.
This project is part-funded by the UK Government through the Community Recovery Fund.