Name: Heart of Glass
Price range: $

Project Parr is an exciting new collaboration between artists Andy Field and Beckie Darlington with children from Broad Oak Community Primary School and the wider community in Parr, St Helens.

Every part of the project is being shaped by children ages 8 to 11 as they explore their neighbourhood and imagine its future.

In the summer of 2023, Andy and Beckie held a residency at Broad Oak, consulting with over 100 children and 29 school staff to explore what kind of project they might want to make together.

Then in October 2024, they returned to Broad Oak to begin working with the children to co-create the first part of that new project - a new documentary film about Parr written and presented by the children themselves. The film features interviews with a range of members of the local community and tells the story of Parr through the children’s eyes.

Photograph of a group of children in red school uniforms, seated around a man wearing an orange hi-vis vest, The children are interviewing him and filming with a go pro camera — Workshop at Broad Oak School, 2024. Photo by Jazamin Sinclair

Photograph of a group of children in red school uniforms, using a camera and other recording equipment. They are being helped by a woman with a blonde bob, glasses and lilac cardigan — Workshop at Broad Oak School, 2024. Photo by Jazamin Sinclair

Photograph of a schoolgirl holding a camera, aimed at someone out of shot. In the background a woman with a blonde bob, glasses and lilac cardigan smiles — Workshop at Broad Oak School, 2024. Photo by Jazamin Sinclair

Photograph of a group of children in red school uniforms, standing in front of a colourful mural. They are all smiling. — Children from Broad Oak Primary School. Photo by Andy Field

The Process

The two weeks making the documentary began with Andy and Beckie and their young team of documentary makers thinking about the local area - the things they like and don't like about it, the people that live there, the places that make it what it is. From this they started to put together a plan for a film that they could make together about the area.

In the second week the children interviewed people from across the community: taxi drivers, chip shop owners, wellbeing officers, councillors, former miners and even teachers from their own school. They went to local parks and the children's favourite cornershop; they visited a care home and were treated to a song by Dolly (who is 101 years old!). They stood outside the gates of the closed-down library and talked about why it was such an important place for the community.

The children were able to film everything themselves using GoPro cameras, not just the places and people they visited but the journeys they took to get there. They captured shots of wild flowers, mushrooms, discarded beer cans, Halloween decorations and the unexpectedly blue sky.

“Despite having already worked in Parr on three projects in the last four years, these two weeks have been an incredible opportunity to see the neighbourhood the way our young collaborators see it - as a welcoming, inclusive, playful place.” - Andy Field.

How to see the film

The final film will be shown in Parr and St Helens town centre in early 2025. More details will be shared soon.

With special thanks for participation in the film

Cath Brooks (Health Promotion Officer, Torus Foundation), Nicola Griffiths (Volunteer Coordinator, St Helens Health and Wellbeing Services), Stewart Brown (former Bold Colliery Miner), Councillor Bisi Osundeko (Elected Labour Councillor for Parr ward, St Helens), Miss Bancroft, Geoff Newton (AtoB Taxis), Ervis Kalemi (The Master Fryer Fish Bar), Bill, Dolly, Joe and staff at Madison Court Care Home, the team at Save Express Convenience Store, Parr Sports and Community Centre and Derbyshire Hill Family Centre, and to all of the staff at Broad Oak Community Primary School.

Thanks also to Sue and John Darlington, Mike Myshko, Tamsin Curry, Gary Conley and Jim Housley (Northwest Miners Heritage Association).