Working with Families at the Mill Bank Centre
We spoke to Dawn Worthington, The Harris’ Programme and Learning Officer, about her experiences working with families at the Mill Bank Centre.
We spoke to Dawn Worthington, The Harris’ Programme and Learning Officer about her experiences working with families at the Mill Bank Centre.
In May we met up with staff at Mill Bank to talk about offering some workshop activities for the families who live at the centre. Lisa and the team were very welcoming, they showed us around and we talked about the best way to get started. We wanted to ask the families what they would like to do, but we didn’t want to stand around with clipboards and surveys – who wants to speak to that person! We asked artist Sarah Hicks to run a clay workshop, and Millie (Our Harris Communities Assistant) and I chatted to families and encouraged them to vote for their favourite things to do, or write their own suggestions on our posters. We had an enjoyable afternoon and the families were very proud of the items they made.
Sarah and I went back in the summer holidays for another couple of workshops, this time we made some decorations for the centre’s garden, and created story sacks to inspire the children to invent their own stories.
Over the sessions we got to know some of the families, we talked about The Harris – one girl wants my job, although she said she would be an old lady by the time we reopen!
The project is working really well and we’ll be planning more sessions and activities for the future. Hopefully the families will come and visit us when we’re back in The Harris building.
“That was my favourite ever thing to do” – a 9 year old child, following the clay session.
Harris Your Place
Harris Your Place is a £16 million project set to restore and reimagine the Harris for 21st-century audiences as a cultural learning space. The aim of this project is to protect the building and the architecture for future generations whilst enhancing accessibility options and positioning the Harris as a community hub for Preston and Lancashire.
The capital project is more than simply preserving this much-loved building; Harris wants to ensure that it remains a vibrant heart of the community. A place where people want to spend their time.
