Following our very successful Craft Emporia in Oct 2011Borderland Voices are hosting another CRAFT EMPORIA at the Cooperative Emporium, High St, Leek on SATURDAY 17th March 2012 between 10am and 4pm. Refreshments will be available and tempting raffle prizes.

To print Stall holder booking form. click here

Borderland Voices was founded in 1998 in Leek, Staffordshire and currently works across the Staffordshire Moorlands. Our aim is to promote mental health through the arts and to raise public awareness and understanding of mental health issues by delivering accessible arts projects and offering creative space for self-expression within a mutually supportive community.

The CRAFT EMPORIA at the Cooperative Emporium, High St, Leek on SATURDAY 15TH OCTOBER was a great success. We attracted a room full of quality craft stall-holders and unfortunately had to turn a good number away. On the day the room looked colourful and pleasant.
From the moment the doors opened the atmosphere changed to a happy hum as a steady stream of customers made their way round the stalls throughout the whole of the day.
The stall holders were happy and we were happy. We made £478 from the event to help support Borderland Voices.
We intend to run at least 2 more events in 2012 probably with the first one in March.

A Breath of Fresh Air
will be funded by Ecominds, a £7.5million funding scheme run by Mind on behalf of the BIG Lottery Fund.  Ecominds involves people with direct experience of mental distress in environmental projects that improve their mental and physical health, and local communities.  The project is due to run for a year from April 2011, so look out for further details in February or March 2011.

Park Art – the view from Haregate
is a 12-month project which will start in January 2011.  Funded by the Peak District National Park ’s Sustainable Development Fund, Park Art will use the arts to help people, including youngsters in local schools and youth clubs, appreciate the special qualities of the Park.  It will include visits from the Park Rangers and trips into the Park for inspiration.

Land of the Churnet
In Nov 2007 Borderland Voices started a new, 2-year project supported by Give it Sum.  It follows BV’s successful Rivers of Life Project and, like all BV’s work, aimed to promote mental well-being by bringing out people’s creativity.  

Constellations of the Churnet
As part of the Land of the Churnet project, Borderland Voices took  part in the Night Stations project with Charles Monkhouse which culminated in our participants having their own constellations drawn across the Staffordshire Roaches.  

Creative Clubs
In February 2009 we succeeded in raising funding from Staffordshire County Council (Closing the Gap Fund )  for a nine-month project to deliver a series of arts activities to children living in and around the Haregate estate in Leek, an area of high deprivation.