Heywood art charity takes home prestigious award

Tuesday, 7 June 2022 18:33

By Lily McVeigh

Cartwheel Arts, have been awarded the Pilotlight 360 & Weston Charity Award for their work in the community in ‘delivering art for a reason’.

Based in Heywood, Cartwheel Arts charity have used the arts to address social issues for over 35 years.

Promoting social inclusion and unity through vibrant, innovative and high-quality arts projects, the charity focusses on enabling those with little experience of the arts, to explore and develop their creativity.

In an area where few residents engage in the arts, with many neighbourhoods ranking in the top 10% most nationally deprived areas, the award will ensure equal access for the whole community to explore their creativity and the local culture.

Selected from over 100 applicants, the award will allow Cartwheel Arts to continue delivering work to Rochdale's diverse communities and help shine a light and raise the profile of their long-standing work.

The award takes the form of a grant, alongside a 10-month mentoring programme from The Pilotlight 360, which will pair the charity with four senior business leaders, to support Cartwheel Arts’ development and growth.

Director of Cartwheel Arts, Hebe Reilly, spoke of their delight for the opportunities brought by the award: “This is such exciting news for Cartwheel Arts. As a new Director, I really welcome the support and guidance of the Pilotlight mentors and am looking forward to guiding the company as we transition out of the pandemic, and continue to deliver cutting edge participatory arts practise.”

Alyson Malach, Chair of the charity, added: “There is no better time for Cartwheel Arts to take the next step in our development and receive strategic business development support. We are looking forward to being involved in this initiative and to identify the challenges and opportunities.

"Being involved in this partnership will increase our reach, improve our leadership and governance, and help us to increase and diversify our funding and the number of organisations we engage with.”

With big ambitions for the future, Cartwheel will continue to engage under-represented communities with high-quality creative and cultural experiences across Rochdale.