Winner of Chris Drinkwater Award announced

The winner of the 2023/24 Chris Drinkwater Creative Health in Primary Schools Award has been announced.

Bigfoot Arts Education – working with Battle Hill Primary School and Battle Hill Library - received the overall prize for their Interwoven project during an online ceremony on Tuesday 25 June 2024.

Interwoven was a multigenerational project spanning creative writing, drawing, knitting and weaving. Drama and art practitioners worked with Key Stage 2 students at Battle Hill Primary School, where the children took part in interactive tasks that culminated in them creating and drawing imagined animal characters, inspired by local wildlife. A winning design from each class was chosen and these were crafted into woollen creations by local residents.

Community art workshops were then delivered in Battle Hill Library, inviting people of all ages to weave a circle to form an impressive permanent installation for all to see and admire.

The following organisations and projects were highly commended by the judging panel:

Blue Cabin - working with Caedmon Primary, Grangetown Primary and Whale Hill Primary - used creativity to help care-experienced children build relationships, gain skills and gain confidence. The children's achievements were acknowledged and accredited through Arts Award.

Queen’s Hall Arts, Hexham engaged 12 schools in West Northumberland through their Beneath Our Feet project. Children from Kielder, Otterburn, Bellingham, Wark, Greenhaugh, Greenhead, Henshaw, Whitfield, Allendale, and Newbrough Primary Schools, alongisde Bellingham Middle School and Shaftoe Trust Primary Academy, took part in creative activities to foster pride in local histories and to make connections with local communities.

The Chris Drinkwater Creative Health in Primary Schools Award is a partnership between the North Cumbria & North East Child Health and Wellbeing Network, and Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.

It is an annual award which recognises partnership projects between primary schools and the cultural sector which have creative health outcomes. The award comes with a financial prize for the best Creative Health projects.

The 2024-25 awards will open for applications on Monday 9 September 2024. 

Please sign up for the Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums Creative Classrooms newsletter or the North Cumbria & North East Child Health and Wellbeing Network newsletter to be notified when applications are open.

Please contact: communications@twmuseums.org.uk