Aunty Social

Aunty Social is a community arts organisation that gives people opportunities to develop their creativity, learn new skills and connect with others through positive arty activities. We coordinate a diverse programme of arts and cultural activities designed to bring people together in a safe, supportive, gentle space. What about the future? Well, we’re keen to build on everything we’ve achieved. We’re looking to employ staff to help us with our new venue and with office work – hey, if we can do all of this in our free time on evenings and weekends, imagine what we could achieve if we had some help! All in all, we want to continue offering the people of the Fylde Coast even more great things to do. We want to share and make great art in our local communities so we can all enjoy all the social benefits. A little history We started out back in 2011 as a group of friends who wanted something fun, affordable and social to do. There were very few ways to meet new people that didn’t involve going to a pub or a bar. So we raided our attics, scoured our wardrobes and went off to a car boot sale to raise £30 for our very first workshop. Since then, we’ve done all manner of lovely activities and reaching thousands of local people. We’ve received funding from a variety of sources such as Arts Council England, Blackpool Council, BFI, Richmond Fellowship, Leftcoast, Street to Scale and EU Youth Initiatives but this is not the majority of our income. We really believe in sustainability and work hard to earn our own income through workshop delivery, research and creative retail sales; making sure that projects can pay for themselves or each-other. Fast forward to 2022 and we now have a variety of projects on the go as well as online arts and culture magazine Blackpool Social Club and the Winter Gardens Film Festival. We’re still completely volunteer-run and led; we are super proud of all our helpers who help us put on events and activities to a professional standard.