Wakefield community group using donated clothes and costumes to empower performers after receiving a share of nearly £10 million National Lottery funding

A Wakefield-based community project that has created a costume library using pre-loved items to remove barriers to participation in art and theatre is celebrating after receiving nearly £10,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund.

Empath Action CIC is one of 237 organisations in Yorkshire & Humber, doing vital work with communities, to receive a share of nearly £10 million in funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.*

Housed in a unit at the Ridings Shopping Centre (thanks to the Art House), The Community Costume Emporium will enable aspiring creatives to book out a set of costumes, use them and return them, for a small deposit. The organisation is also encouraging people to donate their pre-loved items, giving them a second life as part of the Costume Emporium and reduce waste in Wakefield.

The project will also deliver a series of workshops, such as teaching members of the community how to sew, mend and repurpose clothes, equipping participants with important life-skills, and in this way, diverting good quality clothing or props away from landfill.

The project aims to remove barriers for the arts community in Wakefield, providing a resource which will empower young and low-income artists to explore their creativity at little cost.

One young actor who will benefit from the project said: “The Community Costume Emporium will be so useful for actors like myself because this is a resource that we don’t really have in the local area … There are loads of aspiring creatives particularly in the performing arts sector [in Wakefield] and this would be such a great thing to be able to access as most performances, shows and conventions will be low budget. This resource will make life that little bit easier and cheaper for performers like myself when putting on such shows.”

Steven Busfield, Co-Director at Empath Action CIC, said: “We love to connect our community through high quality theatre performance, like our steampunk show Professors G and J which toured the libraries in the summer as part of Wakefield’s incredible WordFest. For this and other productions, we have collected lots of costumes. It seemed such a shame that, in between shows, they should just sit on a shelf, particularly when costuming is so expensive. So, we thought, why not give others the chance to use our costumes for their productions?<.p>

“Thanks to National Lottery players, that’s exactly what we can do with our funded project, the Community Costume Emporium. People in our community will be able to come down to our unit in the Ridings Shopping Centre and browse our costumes and those that have been donated to the project and take them out for their own productions.

“We will also be holding a series of workshops in which we will work with local creatives to teach members of our community how to mend, adapt, and create new costumes and props. In this way, National Lottery players are helping Wakefield’s performing arts community, as well as wider community groups who use theatre, costumes and props as part of their adult learning experience and giving us a creative way to explore and grow our sustainable living skills.”

Joe Dobson, Head of Regional Funding for Yorkshire & Humber at The National Lottery Community Fund, said: “Thanks to National Lottery players and the hard work and dedication of local projects, like the Empath Action CIC, this funding will make a big difference to people’s lives in Wakefield, and across Yorkshire. We’re delighted that our funding is being used to strengthen communities and provide people with the tools and support they need to prosper and thrive.”

Yorkshire & Humber isn’t alone in benefiting from National Lottery funding. Today it was announced that over £100 million has been awarded to nearly 2,500 projects in England in the past three months.*

National Lottery players raise over £30 million each week across the UK for good causes. The National Lottery Community Fund as a distributor ensures a share of this funding goes straight to communities, helping them to tackle important issues such as supporting young people into employment, mental health and climate action.

To find out more visit www.TNLCommunityFund.org.uk