Dott 07

Welcomes is a design project exploring our thoughts, ideas and experiences on what makes us feel welcome, what makes a place welcoming and how we make others feel welcome.

A sign at Heathrow’s Terminal 4 greets visitors with the words: ‘Welcome to Great Britain’. Expectant visitors go through the doors and enter... a grotty gift shop.

Can the North East do better? How might we improve the terminals, ports, places, situations and experiences that greet visitors when they arrive?

The Welcomes project helps communities collect thoughts, ideas and experiences on what makes people feel welcome – or not. They then explore design ideas of ways to make a place more welcoming. Small groups present their ideas as images (drawn, photographed or filmed), written statements and short films.

‘The Welcomes project is about ways to change how we work together, how we live together, how our communities look and feel’ Stella Hall, Creative Director, culture10

How did Welcomes work?

Two Welcomes projects were specially commissioned for Dott 07. In Tees Valley, individuals and communities were brought together by independent media company Media 19 to make images, films and audio/written material. A selection focused on Stockton and Middlesbrough was presented at an exhibition at the Transporter Bridge. An eclectic mix of these short films, photographs, animation clips and written texts will be displayed at the Dott 07 Festival.

Stella Hall, Creative Director, culture10, who leads the Welcomes project, said the idea is that ‘voices will be heard – not just listened to – by the people who make changes’.

Another Welcomes group comprised players and management from Middlesbrough Football Club. Manager Gareth Southgate and first team players Jonathan Woodgate, Jason Euell, Brad Jones, Lee Cattermole and Adam Johnson all contributed to discussions about the welcome they receive from supporters both home and away.

In Stockton, the Sure Start team at Port Clarence Community Centre worked with mums and young children to develop the design for a new park in the heart of their community.

‘This is a picture of the Marsh, my welcome landscape. It’s the main field behind the Clarences. It was my playground when I grew up and when I go there now it’s like my little oasis; my quiet, thinking place. I know they have tidied it up over the years, but I would like to see proper paths so the whole community can benefit from its strange, natural beauty, like I do.’ Jayne Hall, Clarences Community Centre.

Belinda Williams of Media 19, who helped the group use digital imaging, said: ‘The mums here feel isolated because they have to leave their community for most things. They want a park and we want to empower them to get funding. The Welcomes project has raised awareness of what could make Port Clarence a more welcoming place.’

The Berwick on Tweed Welcomes, The Changing Face, celebrates Berwick’s young people. It’s an alternative to images of its past and heritage that normally greet visitors to this picturesque town.

More than 200 young people aged between 14 and 18 helped create a large-scale outdoor projection at the crossing of the town’s three famous bridges that, with the River Tweed, mark the boundary between England and Scotland.

A dramatic series of morphing portraits and text, suspended under the central arch of the Royal Tweed Bridge, created a double mirror image of Berwick’s collective ‘face’ through its reflection in the river below.

What next?
The Welcomes project was the first of its kind. People in the North East were invited to explore what was welcoming or not about their region and to submit their ideas for public display. The best ideas will be showcased at the Dott 07 Festival, where visitors can also take part by presenting their Welcomes ideas up until the end of the event.

But the team is determined that the ideas generated have a life beyond the past year’s events and directly improve the life of the region and the lives of the community groups that have taken part.

At present, plans to extend the Welcomes project to Stockton and Middlesbrough include a celebration of the Transporter Bridge at its centenary in 2011 and others will be developed across the North East.

For opportunities to volunteer at any of the proposed events, visit culture10

If you would like to enquire about usage of the films from the Welcomes event at Berwick or the Transporter Bridge, please contact culture10@ngi.org.uk

If you would like to find out more about this project or to register your interest in the methodology used, please contact Belinda Williams

Welcomes formed part of North East England's world-class festival and events programme.