A COLOURFUL community parade brought music and fun to the streets of Winsford.

A pop up museum was also created in the town centre as a performer read a story about north west heritage.

Northwich Guardian:

A performer read a story at a pop-up museum in the town centre about north west heritage

The cultural event at Fountains Court on Saturday heralded the launch of an exciting project.

Puppets and models inspired by young people and created from recycled materials by youth artist collective Frog and Bone were carried through the town.

Northwich Guardian:

Puppets and models inspired by young people and created from recycled materials by youth artist collective Frog and Bone were carried through the town

This free celebration was the first of five events across the region organised by Hope Happenings, a National Lottery Heritage-Fund supported initiative to capture the imagination of young people.

West Cheshire Museums hope to encourage more young people to get actively involved in arts and culture.

Led by Curious Minds, the north west arts and education organisation, in partnership with Youth Focus North West, Museum Development North West and five of the region’s museums, the project aims to transform the way museums engage with young people.

Saul Argent, from Curious Minds, said: “With climate change protests, knife crime and grooming issues all making headlines, the importance of listening to young people and ensuring that their voices are not only heard but are embedded in the cultural activities of our communities has never been more relevant.

“The Hope Happenings bring together all these themes, creating a platform for successful and inspirational young artists, young people, heritage organisations and communities to work with recycled materials and create events that will provide a celebration of young people’s ideas and vision for the future based on their understanding of the past.”

Hope Happenings aims to help participating museums to recruit young people to take on leadership roles in the organisation of five Festivals of Hope in 2020.

Northwich Guardian:

Shoppers listened to performers at a pop-up museum in the town centre

The project follows extensive consultation with young people which has revealed that they are interested in how the past has influenced the present and can affect the future but feel disinterested in museums and do not feel part of formal heritage attractions.

“The idea of Hope Happenings is to make young people the driving force behind a series of cultural events that take inspiration from the past and literally bring their ideas to the streets of their local communities in partnership with local museums,” said Saul

All the events are part of Hope Streets, a five-year project that seeks to revolutionise the ways museums connect with young people, and enable young people to influence the future development of the heritage sector in their local community.

“The project has been made possible thanks to National Lottery players and the National Lottery Heritage Fund," added Saul. “We’d like to thank them for enabling us to deliver exciting heritage projects like Hope Streets.”