We will organise free community workshops in puppetry, mask making, dance, singing, banner making and embroidery with volunteers, refugees and member of the Ukrainian community from April to June 2024 that will result in spectacular indoor and outdoor performances in Dewsbury and Holmfirth. Led by local and refugee artists, 'Dear Sunflowers' is based on the life and paintings of famous Ukrainian artist Maria Prymachenko (1908-1997, who vividly depicted life around her in a celebratory, colourful way and reflected the traumas of the twentieth century she lived through. Her work features highly patterned depictions of women, animals, birds and flowers. It is widely recognized in the Ukrainian community and provides a readily accessible, stimulating and fascinating resource for our wider group of participants and audiences in Dewsbury and Holmfirth to experience Ukrainian culture for the first time, and for existing and new Ukrainian participants to explore and affirm their culture.

What we'll deliver:

• Deliver 18 community workshops led by local and refugee artists.
• Produce a Ukrainian themed storytelling show and procession
• Involve 50 participants & live audiences of 800+ in Kirklees
• Create 1 large puppet, 8 masked figures & 8 embroidery panels
• Create original songs in Ukrainian and English

Why it's a great idea:

Increased knowledge of the Ukrainian refugee experience and Ukrainian traditional culture leading to informed understanding between refugees and local people. Integration of Ukrainian refugees with the local community and with refugees from other cultures. Paid opportunities for refugee artists. New friendships made and new creative skills acquired. New opportunities for volunteering. Spectacular, informative story telling shows and processions in Dewsbury and Holmfirth, free and open to people of all ages and backgrounds that will draw people into these town centres. Through supporting those who experience poverty, loneliness and trauma, especially Ukrainian women and children who have escaped from the war & older refugees from Syria and Iraq, the project will contribute to mental health and suicide prevention and help to address health inequalities. It will combat loneliness and isolation by building personal and community resilience through friendship and the sharing of cultures.

Steps to get it done:

• Completion of 18 community workshops
• Production of bi-lingual Ukrainian/English storytelling show.
• Production of Ukrainian themed procession with images, dancing and singing

May 2024 is the tenth anniversary of 6 million+ Charitable Trust and we want this to be a celebratory time, with 'Dear Sunflowers' at the heart of our global celebration. We are currently working with volunteers, artist and refugees from the UK, Kurdistan (Iraq), Nigeria, Syria, Chad, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Sudan and the Ukraine. Ukrainians living in Kirklees became involved in our work for the first time in early 2023, in the 6 million+ Holocaust Memorial Day commemoration in January and in ‘Together we are one’, our Srebrenica commemoration in July, both of which took place at Dewsbury Town Hall. This project will develop and consolidate our relationship with Kirklees Ukrainian community while introducing Ukrainian culture to people with other cultural backgrounds. As part of this project, we are working with the Mukirka Ukrainian group to complete an embroidery of 8 main episodes in Prymachenko’s life and this is reflected in the volunteer hours offered by this group as a partners.