22/09/2026
⭐️ Nominate Moving Parts Arts for the North East Culture Awards! ⭐️ We have entered into two categories:
- Best Arts & Education Partnership Award, to celebrate our work with West End Schools Trust over the last year with projects Teeny Tiny Toon and Puppet Quest.
- Heritage Award, to celebrate our project A Treasury of Tyneside Tales and the creation of The Last Believer show.
LINK IN THE COMMENTS TO NOMINATE US! Read on to find out more about the projects...
Teeny Tiny Toon
Teeny Tiny Toon is a celebration of Newcastle and its people, told through puppetry, film and storytelling. This project engaged 513 people of all ages across the West End of Newcastle, including Year 3 and 4 pupils in 9 WEST schools (13 Classes/348 participants). Everyone made a puppet version of themselves and filmed it telling stories and experiences of living in the West End. For many of the children, it was the first time they had tied a knot, seen a pair of pliers or had their work filmed on a professional camera. The final film, combining all of the groups, was shared within their schools and at celebration events, where participants and their families were invited to watch, eat popcorn and pizza together.
Puppet Quest!
Puppet Quest! brings together language learning, puppetry, film and music, to develop skills and nurture friendships with KS2 school children. In the last year we paired 120 children in Wingrove & Canning Street primary schools to take part in 24 sessions embedded in the curriculum. WEST wanted a project that celebrated the diversity of languages in their schools (as this can raise attainment amongst EAL pupils), develop pupils' oracy skills, and smooth the transition to high school. “Through his engaging project children developed new skills, built confidence and formed lasting friendships while expressing their creativity in innovative ways” (WEST annual newsletter). Young people worked with professional musicians, theatre makers, puppeteers, film makers and language specialists in the immersive programme. They celebrated the project end together at Alphabetti Theatre. They were encouraged to be bold, silly and creative, putting them in the role of experts in their own cultures.
A Treasury of Tyneside Tales
A Treasury of Tyneside Tales invited intergenerational community groups across Newcastle to discover, explore and reimagine local folklore. The project by Moving Parts Arts CIO brought together 155 young people (aged 11–18) and older residents (aged 75+) from across eight wards to share and connect through storytelling. Through a 7-month programme of workshops, participants visited local archives, worked with historians and artists, and created their own ‘crankie’ theatres to tell their own folklore-inspired stories. ‘Crankies’ are 19th century storytelling devices. By turning a hand crank, an illustrated scroll is pulled across an illuminated screen in a box. As the images pass the screen, the storyteller narrates their tale. Participants dived into existing local folklore and shared their own urban legends, family tales and fantastical reimaginings of living in the region. They created their own ‘crankie’ theatres and stories, which were captured on film and remain as a lasting online archive. Alongside the community exhibition, Moving Parts created an accompanying professional show ‘The Last Believer’, which was told on a purpose-built, unique giant crankie made by local craftspeople and brought North East folklore into the present day through puppetry and original music. The free-to-access show was seen by over 1,400 people on the museum grounds.
