“Talkaoke is part and parcel of engagement in Pendle”
– Paul Hartley, In-Situ
The People Speak have been collaborating with In-Situ and Building Bridges for 15 years, helping the residents and stakeholders of Pendle Borough envisage a better and more connected borough of the future. As part of this ongoing project we have done a number of residencies, trained new Talkaoke hosts and produced events in the areas overlooked by the famous Pendle Hill: from Walkaoke – Talkaoke on the move, to Pendle Under The Hammer – a series of creative consultations with the residents of Colne, Nelson, Barnoldswick and Brierfield to inform the borough council’s corporate plan. Talkaoke is a regular feature of the annual Pendle Festival of Culture.
“Talkaoke helps us create the space to have challenging, difficult, fun and creative conversations with residents in Pendle. We’ve done hundreds of them in a variety of places – its mobile and flexible to fit into many scenarios. We’ve used Talkaoke in town centres, Council venues, shops, pubs, schools and colleges, outside McDonald’s and online. It’s a really effective tool for exploring all kinds of themes in our embedded work in Pendle; youth voice, climate engagement and psychology, racism, cohesion, creative careers and future of work, Covid and grief, health and wellbeing, mental health. Our ambition is to continue to train up local people who can host it within the community. It enables us to make sure our programme is relevant; we develop the ideas that come up around the table and these continually inform our practice in Pendle”
– Anna Taylor, Critical Engagement, In-Situ