A project funded by the Green Recovery Challenge Fund to engage local people in the special flora of Teesdale in County Durham and educate about how we can protect it. Creativity in Crisis Back to past projects BLURB Project Gallery Green Man Project Green Man Project Willington Open Door Church6 Green Man Project 1/16 Thank you to our generous Funders: We Need Your Support Today! Donate

Podcast Brianna & Madison Hosting Inspiring Women

Northern Heartlands was originally one of 16 Great Place Schemes – funded jointly by Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund – which came out of the landmark 2016 Culture White Paper.  Our Great Place Scheme in Co Durham focussed on the more rural areas of the county as well as some of the towns and villages of the former Durham coalfield area.  Great Place Scheme 2017 - 2020 Back to Past Projects Northern Heartlands was originally one of 16 Great Place Schemes – funded jointly by Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund – which came out of the landmark 2016 Culture White Paper. Our Great Place Scheme in Co Durham focussed on the more rural areas of the county as well as some of the towns and villages of the former Durham coalfield area. We worked with hundreds of local people - listening to their stories, building confidence, valuing their hopes and dreams, increasing their sense of pride in their place and its heritage - and providing some innovative and exciting events and creative activities along the way. We also worked with a range of different partners at a strategic level, with an overall aim of building confidence and enabling the voices of our communities to be heard by those who make decisions on their behalf. The work included a series of Speaker & Discussion Events: creative conference sessions involving community representatives, decision-makers, artists, thinkers and the business community who were all invited to come together to share ideas on issues ranging from Neighbourhood Planning to Hill Farming and from Tourism to Placemaking. Our external evaluator described our Great Place Scheme as 'unique and ambitious'. Read the report here Project Gallery 1/29 Thank you to our generous Funders: We Need Your Support Today! Donate

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Find out about opportunities to work with us and volunteer with us. Opportunities Volunteer Volunteer with us We are always on the look out for willing volunteers to help support our work. If you'd be interested in volunteering for us, send an email to info@northernheartlands.org and we will be in touch! Call outs are often shared via our mailing list so sign up using the form at the bottom of this page. Work with us Work with us We have no open opportunities to work with us just now. Keep checking this space and follow us on our socials to hear about any upcoming opportunities. As a Registered Charity, we currently have a small but very effective team of Trustees, but we’re on the lookout for more! We would be very interested in hearing from you if you share our values, believe in our vision and mission, and you have expertise in finance and fundraising, and/or if you’re from one of the communities in our area of benefit in County Durham. Click on the button below for our Trustee Recruitment Pack. If you are an Artist, click below to go to our current opportunities. Go to Artist Call Outs Trustee Recruitment Pack We Need Your Support Today! Donate

Connect with the County Durham Artists' Network and view presentations from previous netowrking and training sessions. Artists' Network Back to Artists' Space Throughout April - September 2021, Northern Heartlands hosted the County Durham Artists' Network. These weekly, free sessions were a chance to hear from fellow creatives, regional arts organisations and take part in professional training sessions. Below is a collection of presentations that were delivered throughout during our meetings. The Creative Adventurer's Survival Guide East Durham Creates Website Fundamentals for Creatives Teesdale Artist Network Durham County Council Cumbria Arts and Culture Network Beamish Museum Northern Saints Trail Durham 2025: City of Culture Culture Durham Federation of Small Businesses Arts Council England The Network also received a number of training sessions to support the work of artists. These were delivered in a mixture of online and live sessions. Below you can find presentations from some of the training sessions. Website Creation and Development for Creative Practitioners Defining Your Why Finding and Getting funding for Arts Projects Q&A with Arts Council England If you are an Artist or Creative Practitioner and would like to be added to our Artists' mailing list, get in touch with other Artists or hear about new training or commission opportunities, get in contact by emailing info@northernheartlands.org We Need Your Support Today! Donate Thank you to our generous Funders:

Northern Heartlands’ Landscape & Environment strand celebrates the rich natural heritage of south-west County Durham, connecting communities with their surroundings through creative collaboration Landscape and Environment Back to projects Budding Botanists Creatively Connected Cuthbert's Moor We Need Your Support Today! Donate

All previous projects completed by Northern Heartlands from 2017 to 2023. Past Projects Back to projects Great Place Scheme Hidden Heritage Bishop Auckland Heritage Plants on the Edge Thriving Communities Turning the Hourglass We Need Your Support Today! Donate

Our mission is for flourishing places, where people use creativity to gain confidence, explore what matters, express their views and contribute to society.  Our Mission... ... is to engage and support local people and communities by using creativity to develop agency, build social capital and foster individual potential. Communities and the artists we work with are at the heart of what we do. We know that people are the real experts in where they live, the issues they face and what needs to change, so we always start by listening. We trust in the skills and knowledge of creative practitioners because we have seen the incredible results, both artistically and for the lives of people who take part. We are committed to supporting the careers of artists in our region. The principles that guide us are set out below, with creativity at the heart of what we do. Our process is a circle because we know that change takes time and trust is hard to earn – so we are in it for the long term with the people, places and artists we work with. We are experimental, we are always trying to learn from successes and failures, and we share that learning. We want to extend understanding between people and across sectors. Our Vision OUR VISION is for strong, connected, and healthy communities, where people are actively involved in shaping their lives and their environment. We strive to achieve our Vision and Mission by: Recognising that each place we work in, and each community we work with, is unique Working with creative practitioners in everything we do Ensuring we always work collaboratively with communities Always reviewing, learning from, and adapting our approach and sharing our learning with others Supporting artists and creative practitioners to reach their full potential Working in partnership Our Way of Working Our Values WE WILL BE: COMMITTED to what we do, to each other and to those we work with TRUSTED by each other and by those we work with DIGNIFIED in our own actions and by respecting the dignity of everyone we work with AMBITIOUS for ourselves, for our organisation and the places, the communities, and the individuals we work with AUTHENTIC in all of our actions HUMBLE in respecting and valuing the opinions and beliefs of others Our Way of Working We Need Your Support Today! Donate

Latest News All Posts Search jaynebradley8 Jun 19, 2023 1 min We're now an NPO! We're really excited to be starting on journey as an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation for 2023-26. It promises to be a time... 7 views 0 comments Post not marked as liked We Need Your Support Today! Donate

Sat, 13 May | TCR The Hub Curious Youth Challenge Calling all LGBTQIA+ 11-19 year olds! Up for a Creative Youth Challenge? Join Curious Arts at Barnard Castle and take part in a day filled with creative activities to help you find and build your Tribe! Click the RSVP button to reserve your FREE place! Registration is closed See other events Time & Location 13 May 2023, 10:00 – 16:00 TCR The Hub, Shaw Bank, Barnard Castle DL12 8TD, UK About the event Join Curious Arts at Barnard Castle and take part in a day filled with creative activities to help you find and build your Tribe! Through workshops led by LGBTQIA+ artists across the North East, we will explore the theme 'Find Your Tribe' and what that means to you. Come along, and help build a community in a supportive and creative environment. Click RSVP button to register your FREE place. Show More Share this event

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