Starting with a short round up of events you may have missed earlier this summer….
The Walkley Events Collective (WECCIC) hosted their first Community Cinema evening in June and it’s safe to say, it was a resounding success. The audience was surprised by a fabulous ’Flash Mob’ (pictured above) who treated them to an amazing Abba medley and after the feel-good film, everyone danced late into the night to an Abbatastic soundtrack.
A delighted audience member messaged to say
“Congratulations to everyone at the Walkley Events Collective. Last nights event was absolutely fantastic! Best night out in a very long time! Special mention to the totally fabulous flash mob choir who made me cry! Such fun, such joy, such brilliant organisation! Wonderful all round. A Walkley event to remember. May there be many more!”
Spoiler alert! Tickets are now on sale for the next Community Cinema….read on for details…
A huge thank you to Walkley Community Centre for hosting this trial event and waiving their hire fee on this occasion!
Our Summer Makers Market hosted stalls by 28 super talented local creatives and welcomed over 425 visitors!! A big thank you to all the volunteers who make these events possible and to the wonderful local musicians (Dodobones, Dominic Slee Robyn Gair, the Honey Bees and a last minute, great guest slot by Jimmy) who give us their time and talents for free.
We also hosted a series of wonderful Workshops for the first time – Dried Flower Design with Charlotte, Macrame with Jasmine and Origami with Lee.
If you have a creative talent that you would like to share by running short, taster workshops at our future events please get in touch by emailing [email protected]
A massive THANK YOU to everyone who braved the elements and took part in the Super Sunday Yard Sale Trail and Open Gardens & Green Spaces. It was the one wet day of the year (and boy was it wet!) but we were delighted (and amazed!) by the number of people that turned out and managed to enjoy the somewhat soggy event.
Special thanks to the Rose House for hosing stalls in their Beer Garden, Alice for her help organising the Yard Sale Trail and Lee for organising the Open Gardens and producing a great Green Spaces Trail Map and hosting a Guided Walk. We’re planning on organising another one next year, but fingers crossed for better weather!
Walkley was treated to another fabulous display of work by talented local artists. The week long event organised by Walkley Festival Art Show had over 100 exhibits in a variety of disciplines.
100’s of votes were cast for your favourite works. Here are the winners
(see also image above):
Congratulations everyone!
We really hope you’re enjoying the Summer Holidays but there’s no rest for the wicked here at WECCIC HQ; we’re busy getting ready for Autumn (and dare we mention Christmas??!) Here are some of the new events to help banish the ‘back to school/work blues’…
Kicking things off is the fabulous Walkley Horticultural Show on Saturday 6th September.
Hot on the heels of the Horticultural Show, is one of our favourite little events of the year…the Acoustic Afternoon in the Freedom Road Community Garden (AKA Freedom Fest!) on Sunday 7th September…Bring a blanket or camp chairs and a picnic and settle in for a gorgeous afternoon of laid back tunes from some of our super talented local musicians
Walkley is taking part in Heritage Open Days, with lots of fascinating things taking place in our fabulous historic buildings on Saturday 20th September. This year’s theme is Architecture and Changes of Use to Public Buildings in Walkley. Click on the image below to find out locations and details.
The Community Cinema is back with a bang on Saturday 27th September with
THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW.
The iconic musical comedy horror is celebrating its 50th Birthday this year!!
Don your fishnets, let your hair down and join us for a crazy, cross-dressing evening of music and mayhem. There’ll be a bar and snacks and dancing ‘til late.
This is going to be a popular event so grab your tickets fast to avoid disappointment.
Sunday 5th October – Walkley Community Centre Afternoon Tea and Walkley Quiz
Wednesday 3rd December – Kicking Off Christmas on Walkley Green
Saturday 13th December – Walkley Christmas Market
Tuesday 16th December – Walkley Community Choir Sings Christmas (St Mary’s)
Saturday 20th December – Christmas Community Cinema (Kids Matinee + Evening)
Further details will be posted on www.welcometowalkley.org as they become available and in subsequent Newsletters.
Promote your Business or Group AND Support your Walkley Community!!
Add/Claim your Business or Community Group to the ‘Ultimate Guide to Walkley’
for a small Annual Fee (just £20 for Businesses and £10 for Community Organisations) which will help us to maintain the website and to fund a fun packed, inclusive annual programme of COMMUNITY EVENTS.
Head to the website, create a FREE ACCOUNT and then you can CLAIM or CREATE your LISTING in the WALKLEY DIRECTORY.
We’re passionate about supporting CREATIVES, so for a limited time we’re offering a 50% DISCOUNT on your first year’s Directory Listing (this includes Walkley based Artists/Makers/Musicians and those creatives who have taken part in our Art & Makers Events.
USE THE CODE: ARTISTS50 (NB EXPIRES 14 SEPTEMBER)
It’s FREE to add one-off EVENTS (happening in Walkley) to our EVENTS CALENDAR (What’s On)
(for timetables, repeat classes or meetings, please add these to your organisation’s listing in the Walkley Directory)
Why did we set up a Community Interest Company?
Walkley Festival was historically run by Walkley Forum and celebrated 20 years in 2022. It has grown into a fabulous event over recent years not least because of the Economic Recovery Fund (ERF) money allocated to Walkley. This allowed the Festival to invest in infrastructure (gazebos, tables etc) and more importantly enabled the creation of a paid position of Event Organiser. The Festival Finale in Ruskin Park really raised the bar and has become one of, if not the highlight of the Walkley Events Calendar.
As the Festival expanded it made sense to look at the management of it going forwards. Individuals of the Forum had been taking on personal liability as the Forum is not a legal entity in its own right. A proposal was put forward (and unanimously agreed) to create a Community Interest Company (CIC) which IS a legal entity. The CIC has clear objectives namely providing a year long programme of events in Walkley that bring the community together. All funds raised are used to cover the costs of running the CIC and putting on the events.
How much does it cost to run Walkley Events Collective CIC (WECCIC) every month?
£1400 which covers insurance, storage, running a website and 2 days per week Event Coordinator time.
The Directors of the CIC volunteer their time to run the organisation.
We’ve listened to your feedback…
Our plan is to organise multiple events throughout the year rather than condensing them into a 2 week period.
What about the Ruskin Park event?
It costs up to a whopping £12,000 to put on the Ruskin Park event (depending on the size of the event……think toilet hire, stewards, licenses, insurance, stage hire, sound hire, sound engineers, marquee hire, entertainers, climbing walls, bouncy castles…..) all this has been possible over recent years due to the ERF money.
ERF has now finished, and to maintain the scale and quality of the event that everyone has come to expect, we now have to fund this ourselves. We’ve run a number of fund raising events this year and are pursuing alternative pots of grant funding but unfortunately we’re not in a position to put on this FREE event in 2025.
The GOOD NEWS is that we have big plans to bring the Walkley Festival event back to Ruskin Park in 2026!! Watch this space…
However we continue to need your help in supporting our events, by attending, volunteering and donating…THANK YOU!!
Big Love from the WECCIC Team xx
