In The Community Projects

We are a connected organisation that works in partnership with local black led organisations, local businesses, charities and arts organisations that have shared aims and visions.

Photograph by Sonska Studio

Six Towns Carnival - Year 2022, 2023, 2024

Partner:  Staffordshire Association of Black Lives Equality (SABLE), Urban Wilderness CIC.

Six Towns Carnival is an annual free celebration of Afro-Caribbean music, carnival and food, and our heritage within the city of Stoke on Trent. With a focus on providing opportunities for young people and education, we aim to bring joy to the community.

Six Towns Carnival has a proud history of nearly 30 years. Taking place in Hanley Park, it is one of the largest free events in Stoke-on-Trent, drawing attendance of up to 6,500 people of all ages and backgrounds. 

Six Towns Carnival returned after the COVID pandemic with a new volunteer team working alongside the existing team to continue its legacy as Six Towns Carnival Reloaded. 

Kwanzaa Collective UK partners with SABLE and Urban Wilderness CIC to produce this annual event. In 2023 and 2024 the event attracted funding from Arts Council England. Kwanzaa led on all artistic elements, including the parade, workshops and the bandstand stage. 

Black History Celebration- Year 2023, 2024

Photograph by Jerome Whittingham 

Partner:  Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Appetite (2023), Stoke Creates (2024) 

Kwanzaa Collective UK created an annual event to celebrate Black History Month. Held for the last two years at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Hanley, this FREE creative, cultural family day that includes a celebration of the art, music and food of people of African and Caribbean descent. There are a wide range of workshops and performances for all ages and cultures to enjoy. 

In 2023, the event doubled the museum’s footfall, in 2024 over 1,850 people visited the event throughout the day. Over 40 creatives were platformed or employed as part of the event. 

Time Space and Empire - Year 2024

Photograph by Sonska Studio

Partner:  Culture &, V&A Wedgwood

So amazing Culture& V&A Wedgwood Collection - with programme support from Kwanzaa Collective UK launched Time, Space and Empire (2024-2025), a multi-site, cross-arts programme exploring the concepts of time, space, and the development of Britain’s sea power during the expansion of its former empire in relation to the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site in Southeast London and the Potteries in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

Programmes include artist interventions in heritage sites, working with community-led organisations to empower underrepresented audiences, and creating research opportunities for diverse talents. The project will also explore how the colonial economy brought changes to what was consumed and considered to be ‘good taste’.

Kwanzaa Collective was instrumental in shaping the local programme which launched on the International Day for The Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition by celebrating the work of Jacquline Bishop.

Browse the events here:

https://www.cultureand.org/events/time-space-and-empire/

The Windrush Warriors - Year 2023, 2024

Photograph by Morris Fox

Partner:  Windrush Generation Group. Stoke-on-Trent city Council

We teamed up with the Windrush Generation Group to bring the play, ‘Windrush Warriors’ to Stoke-on-Trent on Windrush Day. This was our second event that focused on the Windrush Generation of the North.  Written by Nicola Gardner, The Windrush Warriors in a new comedy- drama play set in a community centre that is home to a colourful array of diverse characters. Based on true lives and events, the play is a hilarious and life-affirming story of four pensioners' fight for justice, dignity and equality. It's a story of how people in their golden years come together to fight adversity with warrior like ferocity. 

We held a short Q&A after the show and included people on the panel from CCMA (Cobridge Community Multicultural Association), many of whom are members of the Windrush Generation who were first invited to post-war Britain to help rebuild the country – and went on to make a huge contribution to modern British life in many different ways.

Culture Shares - Year 2022, 2024

Commissioner:  Under One Roof

Partner:  St. Mark’s Church, Norsaca, Stepping Stones and St. Mark’s school. 

Artists: Morris Fox, Gabriella Gay

As part of a two year Under One Roof residency, Gabriella Gay hosted a series of four Culture Shared in Shelton, one of the most ethnically diverse parts of Stoke-on-Trent. She worked with photographer Morris Fox who grew up in Shelton. The first Culture Share was held at North staffs Afro-Caribbean Association (NORSACA), the second at St. Mark’s school, the third, a woman only event at Stepping Stones and the last brought all the group back to St Mark’s church as part of their National Lottery Heritage Fund project, Under One Roof. 

People shared something from their culture, family or heritage... a song, a story, a ritual, a dance, a dish! 

In the first event of the 50 people that attended 19 people shared something from their family background – We had speakers from Transylvania, Trinidad, Jamaica, Dominica, Stoke, Kashmir, Pakistan, Switzerland, Australia, Punjabi, Finish and Mixed race – Italian and Jamaican descent. We had a special performance on the night from Steel for Stoke Stoke-on-Trent’s s only steel band which was founded in 2014.  NORSACA Catered a range of foods including Jamaican hot chocolate and Trinidadian doubles. People brought food from their culture including seasoned potatoes, plantain chips, samosas and South Asian appetisers.

In the second event 53 parents and young people attended. In the third event, 35 women of different backgrounds attended and at St. Mark’s I wide and diverse community congregated to share their culture and take part in a series of workshops. 

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