Blackpool’s award-winning Lightpool Festival is returning this October half-term with two weeks of extraordinary free entertainment and The Boathouse Youth is privileged to have played our small part.
As part of the festival The Boathouse Youth were invited to be part of a warm, witty poem, showcasing the town’s people, passions and cultural credentials.
Blackpool is often represented in the media for all the wrong reasons. We are at the top of all the bad charts, and the bottom of all the good ones. The Boathouse Youth, along with many other organisations in the town, is committed to changing this representation and showcasing the incredible warmth and talent we have to share.
Nathan Parker, local poet and Youth Worker, is the wordsmith behind the spine-tingling composition. During the Summer Holidays 2022, children and young people at The Boathouse Youth enjoyed a week-long workshop with Nathan where they considered all the things they loved about their community before writing some poetry of their own.
Laurance Hancock, CEO said “When Nathan asked us to be part of the work he was doing with Lightpool Festival we were absolutely honoured, and who better to choose than our very own sandgrown’un Sarah Lindsay, Head of CYP Services.”
Sarah grew up on Grange Park attending local primary and secondary schools before emigrating to Preston as a student at the University of Central Lancashire. Her return to Blackpool came in 2015 when she started volunteering at The Boathouse Youth on our Detached Youth Work project around the Bloomfield community. Since then, she’s progressed through the organisation and been critical to our growth – in particular our expansion into Grange Park – as our Head of CYP Services.
The Boathouse Youth works with children from the Age of 5 to 17, helping them to navigate the challenges that come with growing up in difficult circumstances. It therefore seems really apt that one of Sarah’s lines in the poem is “Whilst creating a map which enables our children to flourish”. Take a watch of the video above and see if you can spot her.
Councillor Lynn Williams, Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Tourism, Arts and Culture commented: “I found it quite emotional when I first heard the poem, and I am sure that our residents and people across Blackpool and beyond will love it and quite literally see Blackpool in a whole new light.”
To find out more about Lightpool Festival 2022 you can visit their website.
