Dearne Youth Legacy

Fusion is leading the Dearne Youth Legacy project, building on the success of Heart of the Wood and Storying Goldthorpe. The project is using research and testing through pilot engagement activity to develop and consolidate thinking around the appetite for arts engagement among young people in the Dearne.

Funded by Barnsley Council's Cultural Development Fund and Goldthorpe Town Deal

Summer 2025 update from Fusion

A Dearne Story and the Dearne’s very first e-gaming tournament. Creative summer activity for children and young people in the Dearne

Fusion has been out and about this summer working with some of our brilliant partners to bring exciting creative opportunities to children and young people in the Dearne.

Dearne e-gaming tournament

First stops Astrea Dearne and the Dearne Playhouse…

We teamed with Jack Riley of Barnsley Youth Theatre and Todd Brand of Pitstop Productions to deliver assemblies to 700 Y7-9 scholars at Astrea Dearne to recruit a team of young producers for the Dearne’s very first e-gaming tournament. The assemblies delivered a strong digital creative careers message aiming to raise aspiration and encourage young people to get involved in the Dearne Youth Legacy Project.

Feedback confirmed that young people would like to engage in activity around e-gaming so Fusion is supporting a group of young producers to create the very first e-gaming tournament in the Dearne. The young producers will plan and deliver, managing the budget while supported by professionals in the gaming sector to take a lead on all aspects of the event from the event concept and name to promotion and delivery on the day!

For this exciting project Fusion is collaborating with Pitstop Productions the leading and multi-award-winning provider of audio services and gaming technology providers Adaptive Gaming.

Barnsley College e-sports students will help deliver the tournament and mentor the young producers. Adaptive Gaming ran an e-gaming taster day at Dearne Playhouse for young producers to test out games for the Tournament.

Three young people with game controllers sit on tiled steps outside a building

Two people play video games on large screens in a room lit with purple and green lights

A Dearne Story - Zine workshops

Another part of the Dearne Legacy Project is the delivery of skills and creativity-based workshops by photographer and artist Sam Batley.

Building on Sam's commission ‘A Barnsley Story’, young people worked with Sam over four weeks to develop photography and zine making skills. The young people were given a disposable camera, example archive photos and prompts and were supported by Sam over the holidays to photograph summer in the Dearne through the eyes of a young person.

The Zine will be published in the Autumn and on display at venues across the borough to inspire content for future editions.