Welcome to Tameside where we are currently beginning our second residency of Local Exchange in the area.

We have been working with local communities since 2018 to celebrate and build arts and culture in, for, and by Tameside.

Now, we are looking forward to our second community festival in the area, when the Royal Exchange’s pop-up theatre, the Den, returns to Stalybridge in 2025.

 

2024-2027

Local Exchange is gearing up again in Tameside, seeking a new group of Ambassadors, Champions, community groups and organisations to collaborate with:

  • Ambassadors: Meet monthly to set the agenda for the work we will do in the area, co-create a two-week festival in the Den and support their local community to get involved.
  • Champions: Meet quarterly to add their voice to the work we will do in the area, support the delivery of a two-week festival in the Den and support their local community to get involved.
  • Organisations: Opportunity to collaborate on creative projects, share skills, and help develop our participant and audience base.

If you’re interested in becoming an Ambassador or Champion, please express your interest by filling out this form.

 

2018-2023

Our initial residency, from 2018 to 2023, built an incredible programme of arts, crafts and culture in Tameside, thanks to the meaningful partnerships we forged with local individuals and groups. Brilliant collaborations were established with Jigsaw Homes, Global Grooves, Age UK, Tameside Women’s Centre, Tameside Council, and Holy Trinity Community Centre.

In 2019, together with the Tameside Ambassadors, a group of local residents, we co-created ‘THE DEN IN STALYBRIDGE festival.’

Highlights from the pop-up theatre included  a production of ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out: Scenes from the Luddite Rebellion,’ transferred from the Royal Exchange stage, the RET Young Company performance of ‘Utopia,’ a Mossley Writers Workshop, the Stalybridge Old Band, and much more. We also partnered with Tameside Women’s Centre to upskill individuals as Front of House volunteers for the festival.

Since the festival, we’ve continued to work with Tameside’s Ambassadors to produce community projects.

In Summer 2019, Tameside artist/writer Hafsah Bashir initiated CAV MILL WRITES, where over 90 residents shared ideas and thoughts. From this, she crafted a poem projected onto Cavendish Mill for three months. From November 2019 to February 2020, Jigsaw Homes funded a 12-week sewing and costume project with women at Holy Trinity Church & Community Centre (HTCCC) in Ashton.

Despite COVID-19 delays, the Tameside Ambassadors persisted, hiring Rebecca Taylor to connect with local groups and run workshops, gathering stories for writer Rachel McMurray’s creation, ‘NO SUCH THING AS ORDINARY.’ This was performed at Guide Bridge Theatre in 2021, featuring a mix of professional and non-professional actors, including Royal Exchange Theatre Tameside Ambassadors, Young and Elders Company graduates.

During the pandemic, we continued collaborating with Tameside Women’s Centre, adapting an ARTS PROJECT to virtual platforms. As the world reopened, we partnered with Jigsaw Homes to employ community artist Samantha Edwards for a craft café in Dukinfield, evolving into PEOPLE’S COMMUNITY DUKINFIELD. This resident group created a banner for their MP, staged a play, curated exhibitions for the Museum of Science and Industry and HOME, and continues offering free community activities.