Young talent retained with £760k arts grant

The National Festival of Making in Blackburn will be one of the recipients of the funding

A £750,000 grant has been awarded by Arts Council England to help a borough retain its young creative talent.

The fund will help pay for 250 volunteers and 12 paid workers in Lancashire, which has a historic reputation for manufacturing.

Blackburn with Darwen Council said it wanted to avoid "creatives having to move away to further their careers".

Labour executive member Quesir Mahmood said: "This is an excellent opportunity for the borough to maximise the capital investment in cultural assets, including King George's Hall, and deliver the cultural vision for the borough."

Darwen-born Gary Aspden is one of the area's success stories after designing the popular Adidas Spezial trainers but the opportunity only emerged after he took work in London.

He previously told council magazine The Shuttle that "growing up in Darwen, I never even considered working in a job like I do now".

"I realised that there were jobs in clothing and trainer design but it's like they were for other people and not for working class kids from East Lancashire," he said.

'Historic gaps'

Mr Mahmood said there would be "indirect benefits for everyone" from the grant but "the key focus is on nurturing and retaining the creativity of the borough's young people… rather than creatives having to move away to further their careers".

The money would be used to develop skills and improve employability, and to set up pop-up events and school initiatives, he said.

Some would be spent on the annual National Festival of Making in the town, he said.

The fund would also address "historic gaps in creative and cultural provision" and be used for "exploring the narrative of our industrial and post-industrial making", he added.

Officials plan to use the grant between now and March 2027.