Our Delivery Report
Funded on 17 May 2024 | Delivered on 25 June 2024
£18,764
RAISED
106
BACKERS
130
DAYS TO FUND
BIGGEST PLEDGE
£4,500
From Kirklees Council
2300
people have visited this project!
12 Volunteers involved
21 June 2024
Following the Holmfirth Arts Festival, Dear Sunflowers is Back at Dewsbury
Kirklees Local TVFollowing the Holmfirth Arts Festival last weekend, creative arts charity, 6 million+ is running the Dear Sunflowers parade and performance again in Dewsbury Town Centre on Saturday 22nd June at 1:30 pm to coincide with Refugee Week.\n\nThe parade and performance celebrate the life and work of folk artist Maria Prymachenko (1908-1997), whose bold and colourful paintings have become a symbol of hope and peace for Ukraine.\n\nThe Dear Sunflowers project promotes international friendship and solidarity
23 Classes provided
16 June 2024
Holmfirth Arts Festival 2024: Colourful photos show the busy art and cultural event in full swing held in the Yorkshire town where Last of the Summer Wine was filmed
Yorkshire PostThe event aims to honour new work by supporting diverse artists, inspire communities to get involved in the arts and the town’s heritage, take special interest in caring for the environment and help connect the community on a local, regional and international scale.
48 Hours volunteering opportunities
15/06/24 - 22/06/24
'Dear Sunflowers' - Storytelling performance and parde.
25 June 2024
‘Incredible’ Dear Sunflowers parade wows audiences in sunny Dewsbury
Dewsbury ReporterThe people of Dewsbury were treated to an “incredible” and colourful parade on Saturday, which celebrated the life of Ukrainian artist Maria Prymachenko.\nCoinciding with Refugee Week, the Dear Sunflowers parade, which took place in the town centre in glorious sunshine, was a celebration of the life and work of folk artist Maria Prymachenko (1908-1997), whose colourful paintings have become a symbol of hope and peace for Ukraine.
More about our impact
The environment
We used sustainable materials for puppets and props, and recycled a lot of cardboard to make the puppets. We used buses to transport refugee participants to workshops and performance or a hired community minibus minimising our carbon footprint.
The local economy
Over 16,000 people viewed social media about the project. We animated Dewsbury Town Centre for 2 of our events and Holmfirth Town Centre for 2 of our events. We collaborated with Dewsbury Taking the Lead on the town centre events, including the Global Food Festival.
Volunteering, jobs & education
4 volunteers recruited through TSL Kirklees, including 1 university student. 12 languages were spoken by the participants and although we provided Arabic translation (using Kirklees translation service) there was ample opportunity to gain language skills and arts and craft skills in the 23 workshops. 8 new volunteer workshop assistants recruited directly by 6 million+. Here is a quote from one of the Ukrainian participants, Maria Mahas, who took part with her husband and two sons: 'The 'Dear Sunflowers' project supported our family morally during a difficult time for us. We met a lot of kind, especially kind, friendly people who don't care what nationality you are, whether you speak English or just learning it, they are always happy to meet us and ask if everything is fine. This is very, very important when you are left alone in a foreign country, with no one and nothing... We thank the organisers for the project. Let there be more such projects and organisations.
Arts, culture & heritage
The project looked in some depth at Ukrainian heritage and told the story of famous Ukrainian painter Maria Prymachenko that spans the whole of the twentieth century, enhancing the understanding and profile of the Ukrainian communities in Kirklees. We incorporated Ukrainian design into puppets, props and costumes. We continued our work developing high quality participatory and presentational arts and stories of life experience to bring refugees and local people together, and attracted more participants than any of our previous projects.
Activity, health and leisure
Singing, dancing and making involved nearly 100 people. We were also able to add participation in Indian dance, as well as Ukrainian dance and song, which was very popular with our participants. 4 Indian dancers from Balbir Singh Dance Company collaborated on the project. We provided material for workshops in schools for the Holmfirth Arts Festival and worked with 2 groups with addition learning needs.
