Dearne Youth Legacy Project
17th June 2025
Dearne e-gaming tournament
Fusion is leading the Dearne Youth Legacy Project, building on the success of Heart of the Wood and Storying Goldthorpe (https://www.barnsley-museums.com/projects/storying-barnsley/heart-of-the-wood). The project is using research and testing through pilot engagement activity to develop and consolidate thinking around the appetite for arts engagement among young people in the Dearne. Working with Jack Riley of Barnsley Youth Theatre we’re testing ideas and identifying how to make plans sustainable going forward.
Feedback confirmed that young people would like to engage in activity around e-gaming so our plan is to recruit and work with a group of young producers to create the very first e-gaming tournament in the Dearne. The young producers will plan and deliver the event, managing the budget while supported by professionals in the gaming sector to take a lead on it.
For this exciting project we’re collaborating with Pitstop Productions the leading and multi-award-winning provider of audio services and gaming technology providers Adaptive Gaming.
Barnsley College e-sports students will help deliver the tournament and mentor the young producers. Adaptive Gaming are due to run a family gaming day on 24th July at Dearne Playhouse for the young producers to test out games for the Tournament.
Gaming workshops as part of Storying Goldthorpe provided the inspiration for the Dearne e-gaming tournament
Dearne Zine workshops
Another part of the Dearne Legacy Project is the delivery of skills and creativity-based workshops by photographer and artist Sam Batley. Building on ‘A Barnsley Story’, young people will be given a disposable camera, example archive photos and prompts and will work with Sam over the holidays to photograph summer in the Dearne through the eyes of a young person.
In the Autumn the young people will work with Sam to publish their work in a Zine to be showcased locally. Young people will also plan content for future editions.
Storying Goldthorpe photography workshops with Sam Batley provided the inspiration for the Dearne Zine
