Andi Oliver’s Fabulous Feasts will shine a light on the Portland Inn Project on the next episode of the BBC2 series, airing at 8pm on Wednesday 17 April. In the programme, presenter Andi throws an arts festival and feast using local produce for the Portland Street community.
The Portland Inn Project was co-founded in 2016 by artists Rebecca Davies and Anna Francis, who is an Associate Professor of Fine Art and Social Practice at Staffordshire University.
Just over 500 households make up the Portland Street triangle, a traditionally working class neighbourhood, which is among the 10% most deprived in the UK, creating additional barriers to work and quality of life for people who live here.
The initiative is helping to regenerate the area and involves residents in a range of creative projects, with the aim of transforming derelict local pub The Portland Inn into a pioneering community hub and social enterprise.
Its year-round calendar of activities also focuses on developing skills within the community, such as social organising, cooking and gardening.
Anna said: “A combination of factors means that the neighbourhood has been marginalised for a number of years, and has often been left out of decision making which affect residents locally. Through the work that we are doing, we are forging ways to be in charge of our own decision making, and to make plans for ourselves.
“We filmed with Andi Oliver last Summer, and it was just brilliant to be able to share such a positive story about Stoke-on-Trent. The show is all about celebrating communities making a difference – and our episode focuses on the role of art and artists in making positive change. Andi was a joy to spend time with, and I really enjoyed sharing ceramic making skills with her.”
Residents have co-developed a 100 year plan which centres around making the neighbourhood a better place to live for people and planet. As part of this, they have launched a website and toolkit to help other communities do the same.
The Portland Inn Project is also gaining recognition outside of the UK, and will feature in an international art exhibition in Hiroshima, Japan, from 20 April – 30 June. During the event, Rebecca and Anna will lead a workshop about Portland Palissy – a creative method they developed to record data about local biodiversity. This involved recruiting local residents to make ceramic plaques featuring animals and plants from the local environment.
Anna added: “The Portland Inn Project is now achieving both national and international interest in how we are working with people to make decisions leading to lasting change, and this new BBC show and the exhibition in Hiroshima are just two examples of that. It’s a really good year for the project as we are now six months into our 18 month building development, now making physical change to the community infrastructure of the neighbourhood where the work takes place.”
Andi Oliver’s Fabulous Feasts: Stoke is on BBC2 at 8pm on Wednesday 17 April.