Walkabout Is

Walkabout is a community project developed by The Lowry in partnership with Salford City Council, Salford Primary Care Trust, local people and community groups.

The project began in 2007 in Little Hulton and has since developed a presence in other areas: Little Hulton, Ordsall, Langworthy, Winton and Barton.

The aims for the Walkabout programme are presented below, but the unique ethos of the programme is that The Lowry (through Walkabout) works with each individual community to help them turn their own creative ideas into reality. As such, Walkbout is focussed upon council and community priorities, using creativity to address key issues for the community.

Each area of Salford is very different, with different needs, different levels of infrastructure and varying degrees of voluntary sector support. This means the Walkabout approach has to be flexible enough to meet that diversity.

The primary aims of Walkabout are:

To help communities turn their ideas into a creative reality.
To enable sustained creative activity in all areas that Walkabout has operated
To develop strong partnerships across Salford
To develop creative approaches to community development issues by working in partnership with key statutory and voluntary agencies
To address multi-agency objectives in line with Salford City Council’s Local Strategic Partnership framework as outlined in Making the vision real (2006 – 2016)
To create a positive profile of The Lowry across Salford Communities
To create a positive perception of The Lowry from professional agencies as an agency that delivers and is central to the cultural and artistic health of the city
For agencies to view the Lowry as a key contributor in Salford’s creative and cultural provision (one of Salford’s 7 pledges).

Walkabout is aimed at the community as a whole (not just, for example, young people) and within the steering groups, the consultation phases, and the actual delivery of the work it is imperative that all ages of the community are represented.