Bulwell Arts Festival

02/08/2026

Hi Friends,

Me and our Joy Rice were invited to the Lord Mayor’s Afternoon Tea at Nottingham Castle, recognised for the work and volunteering we do to bring change, opportunity to Bulwell. We were there alongside so many other wonderful people who give their time, love and energy to make their areas better for everyone.

It was especially lovely to spend the afternoon with a few of the our Friends of Bulwell , who work just as hard across so many organisations and causes. It reminded us how much good is happening every single day because of local people who care.

But we never forget all the people who help the Bulwell Arts Festival, and every organisation we work with and their volunteers throughout the year. There are so many of you who give up your time, your skills, your energy — quietly, consistently to support proper grassroots work in Bulwell.

I won’t list everyone’s name because I’d definitely miss someone by accident, but you know who you are. We see you. We value you. Bulwell is better because of you.

It was lovely for me and Joy to be seen too — and we carry that recognition straight back to Bulwell. A massive Thank you to Cheryl Bernard for a lovely day. Rachael Pearson-Harrold

27/07/2026

We are now taking a break. We would like to thank Peter Hancock Photography for sharing even more amazing pics from out global day part of Bulwell Arts Festival. And to everyone that showed up for us, delivered and enjoyed, we can't do this without you. Have a wonderful summer all and see you soon. One Vision PartnershipChallenge NottinghamCommuniTree NottinghamCharm Daley - The Empowerment MCJanet RoseThe Toy Library

15/07/2026

Thank you to the amazing partnership CommuniTree NottinghamWhen Women Gather and Tina for working with CrabTree Farm Primary School leading up to this years Festival Challenge NottinghamOne Vision Partnership

💛 We kicked off a new project in Bulwell by working with local children as they prepared for the Bulwell Arts Festival and a World Cup Celebration event.

Led by the wonderful Tina, the children threw themselves into learning samba rhythms, building confidence, teamwork and plenty of energy along the way. The sessions all came together in a fantastic parade.

Huge thanks to Nottingham City Council and their community cohesion team for supporting our project.

💛🧡💛

15/07/2026

Lots of thank‑yous to so many people — it really does take a village to make these things successful.

We don’t have massive budgets to pay people, so again we rely on the kindness, time and energy of our community to help us over the finish line.

A big shout‑out to Paula Henning and Martin Henning for making all the flags for the festival, driving our van, and helping deliver everything back to the owners we borrowed, begged from and enjoyed. Everything is now back where it needs to be, and we honestly couldn’t have done it without them.

So that’s us — done and dusted for another year.

Have a great summer, everyone.

14/07/2026

Dear friends,

We’ve tallied up our Tombola and Pokémon sales and made a fantastic £488.20. A massive thank you to everyone who donated a Tombola prize, to the amazing Trident Cards Bulwell who were so generous and gifted us so many Pokémon cards, and to our fabulous volunteers — Alex, Rowen‑Lilja, Sarah Regan and Donna Hesketh — who stood in the heat for hours. We honestly couldn’t do these things without the support of volunteers, so thank you very much.

Every penny raised will go straight back into something that will benefit the residents of Bulwell.

Thank you all for your kindness and community spirit. One Vision PartnershipChallenge NottinghamRachael Pearson-Harrold

12/07/2026

Thank you to the amazing and Peter Hancock Photography for capturing some amazing moments from Yesterday Forever greatful! What a great day Thanks for coming...until we do it again! One Vision Partnership Challenge Nottingham CommuniTree NottinghamTwoManTing Janet RoseWhen Women GatherCharm Daley - The Empowerment MCRachael Pearson-HarroldApril MarieAlex Norris MP

12/07/2026

If anyone knows anyone with the last name Grice. Please tell them to contact us so we can reunite them with their lost property. There is identification in the bag so we will know its going to the correct person. If we don't hear anything within a week we will take it to the police station. Thanks

12/07/2026

What our events are about. And what we try to achieve accessibility no limits to who can get involved . Thank you so much for coming to us .Glad you had a great day ###

12/07/2026

Dear friends,

LOST PROPERTY – We had a bag handed in at the end of yesterday’s event. It contains some very personal items. If you lost a bag yesterday, please get in touch so we can reunite it with its owner.

LOST PHONE – An iPhone was also lost, and we have a young person who is very keen to be reunited with it. If anyone
has any information or if you found it, please let us know so we can get this phone back to its owner.

Many, many thanks for your support

BAF Team

12/07/2026

Wow — what a day yesterday, and what a week it’s been.
Yesterday was the final day of an absolutely brilliant festival week, and I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who took part from start to finish. You all came with your own stories and your own journeys to see us, but we came together with one love and proper community spirit — exactly what it needed to be.

A huge thank you to Claire Finn Artist , Bulwell St Mary’s Church, Hothouse Theatre, Highbury Hospital Live team. To Ben McPherson and our fabulous Joy Rice for organising an amazing event with Henry Normal, Sue Allen and Manjit Sahota. We can’t thank you enough for always being part of the team and bringing the goods. We appreciate you all so much. To the amazing festival friend and talent Heather Morgana Rice for the beautiful Festival map images ... thank you!

And a massive thank you to the The Bulwell Academy Community Huby , our Festival Makes Crew ladies, to Chady, and Bulwell St Mary’s for letting us run workshops and meetings leading up to the festival. Your spaces, your kindness and your support helped us bring so many community projects to life — we are truly grateful.

We couldn’t have done any of yesterday without the support of the community. You gave all our artists and workshop leaders a full day on their feet — non‑stop creative fun. To our food vendors, musicians (we LOVED you), and every local organisation who joined us — thank you.

Thank you to Alex Norris MP for always showing up and supporting what we do We really do appreciate it. Thank you to the Bulwell golf club to our Bulwell Councillors and all the amazing volunteers including Julie Clark Emma rose carton, Chris and When Women Gather who walked thousands of steps for us in that heat — you were our backbone. Thank you Sarah Manton and Terry, all our community makers, and every business who donated raffle and tombola prizes.

Thank you to the The Toy Library for their event support. And to our event partners CommuniTree Nottingham— so much love for you all.
Huge thanks to Charm Daley - The Empowerment MC who brought the stage and energy alive, and to Josh Sims, our tech support — you always go above and beyond.

To One Vision Partnership and Challenge Nottingham, who support the festival’s core costs and behind the scenes running each year and to Challenge Nottingham for supporting all the amazing work we do with Bulwell schools — thank you. This year we reached over 2,000 primary school students who took part in projects leading up to the festival.

I hope you got the chance to see some of the school makes yesterday — • Humph the Elephant from Hempshill Hall with artist Rachel Scanlon Artist • The beautiful Plants of Bulwell quilt from Our Lady’s with artist Rebekah Johnston • All the colourful bunting from Springfield Primary and Our Lady’s School
To all the children who took part — you are amazing.

And finally, to my core team — Cathy Mahmood Ian Downing and Rachael Pearson-Harrold— you are magical humans. Thank you.

Please don’t be offended if we've forgotten anyone. I say so many thank‑yous because it truly takes so much to put on something like this. We are a small team and we rely heavily on the kindness, energy and support of everyone above — and you, the community, coming out and enjoying it.

We will be posting photos and vids from our Amazing event photographers Peter Hancock Photography and ezekielarzac

Someone said it was the biggest and best yet — and that’s only thanks to all of you.

Our event was support by One Vision PartnershipChallenge NottinghamCommuniTree Nottingham Nottinghamcitycouncil Willmott Dixon construction Janet RoseWhen Women Gather