My experience as a volunteer for Swarthmore's Creative Communities Project

Catriona Mckell
Jun 21, 2025
3 min read

I was delighted to take part in the National Lottery funded project, Creative Communities, run by Swarthmore Education Centre in Leeds. Having recently moved to Leeds from a small city, this was a huge challenge for me and far outside my comfort zone, but as soon as my social prescriber referred me to this project, I was made to feel welcome and finally settled into this strange new environment. This project was run in South Leeds, a deprived area struggling with poverty and with very little social activities in the area. I was one of hundreds who benefited from this project as it brought together people from all walks of life to participate in workshops over the course of 2 years which were run by local artists. It was amazing to see how many lives were touched by this project. People who had never been to university are now enrolled doing something they never thought was possible, people who were too scared to leave their homes due to the amount of crime in the area and mental and physical health issues braved the unknown and participated fully in workshops that were led in local churches, schools and community centres, many of whom went on to volunteer for the project helping to support others in sessions, with refreshments, and setting up the exhibitions. Special thanks must go out to all the Swarthmore staff involved including Chris Baillie, the director of Swarthmore who got the funding for this project, Penny Lewis who managed the project and Honor Heavons who led the volunteers. If it was not for Penny and Honor recognising my talent I would never have been able to participate. I was extremely grateful for the kindness and patience they showed me which boosted my confidence in the workplace. Thank you also to all the artists in residents and volunteers and last but not least Leeds City Museum for allowing us to use the space and helping us with the exhibition.

My engagement with this project started as a participant. I attended a block of sessions from January to March 2025, held in the Hamara Community Centre in Beeston. I had immense fun learning new art techniques and most importantly making new friends. In separate blog posts, I have written about each of the sessions that were held. Once I heard that there was going to be an end-of-project celebration, that took the form of an exhibition at Leeds City Museum, I was all for it. Having graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2019 with an MSc in Museum Studies, I was excited to put my curating skills to the test by helping to set up the exhibition. My volunteering started in April 2025. I was thrown into helping decide what art to display and creating foam board posters, painted plinths and wall hangings for the art. On the 20th of June 2025, there was the main celebration event where all the participants, artists and Swarthmore staff came together at Leeds City Museum to view the artwork. Some of the art will be on display in the entrance to the museum windows and community corridor in the museum until September 2025. On this day I was at the welcome desk helping promote sales of printed cards with some of the art on it, Swarthmore t-shirts and signing people in. I also helped set up and dismantle the exhibit. I am sad to say goodbye to this project but am grateful for all the connections and opportunities it has given me to develop my skills, confidence and health. Thank you.

Here are some pictures of the day that I have been permitted to share.