Grand Central's training day for budding Sowerby Bridge architects

Pupils from Trinity Academy in Sowerby Bridge will get the chance to indulge their inner architect in a special workshop at The Hepworth Wakefield next month.

Grand Central, which partners with the gallery, will deliver around 30 Year 10 students from Halifax to Wakefield Kirkgate, where they will get the chance to find out more about the station’s regeneration. They’ll then have a two-hour workshop from participatory artist Lucy Courtney-Clegg.

The event, which takes place on 5 July, will see the students develop a greater understanding of contemporary sculpture and architecture, artistic processes and materials. They’ll work on drawing techniques and 3D making skills, using the train journey to create a Barbara Hepworth-inspired hypothetical proposal for a sculpture at Wakefield Kirkgate station.

The event is part of Grand Central’s ongoing support for the transformation of Wakefield Kirkgate, which includes the refurbishment of the underpass. Featuring designs by local artist Ashley Jackson and the music of local brass band, it is one of the UK’s first permanent art shows in a railway subway.

"Grand Central is extremely committed to its local communities and what better way to engage them by getting young people on board?", says community and stakeholder officer Janine Sykes, "This workshop brings together a number of key areas of importance for us; the regeneration of the local area, art and creativity and community involvement. We're really excited about our partnership with the Hepworth and constantly amazed by the great initiatives the gallery promotes."

Natalie Duffield Moore, The Hepworth Wakefield’s schools manager says: “I’m really delighted that we are continuing to further our partnership with Grand Central Rail on this exciting project that brings young students into the gallery. The pupils from Sowerby Bridge will be taking the workshop at an extremely crucial point in their school career as they are soon to decide their A-Level options. Some of the students have never travelled on a train before with others having never visited the gallery so it’s fantastic that our partnership with Grand Central has opened up a new opportunity to build a relationship with the school and offer students new experiences in relation to contemporary sculpture.”

Notes for editors:

Grand Central Railway Company Limited is an established train operator which provides direct rail connections from towns and cities in Yorkshire and the North East England with London.

Established in 2007, Grand Central celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2017. Customer satisfaction levels are consistently high and the rail company has just been named Britain’s best value rail operator for the fifth year in a row.

Grand Central operates West Riding Services between Bradford Interchange, Low Moor, Halifax, Brighouse, Mirfield, Wakefield Kirkgate, Pontefract Monkhill, Doncaster and London Kings Cross. The rail operator also operates North East services between Sunderland, Hartlepool, Eaglescliffe, Northallerton, Thirsk, York and London Kings Cross.

Grand Central is part of the Arriva group, one of the leading providers of passenger transport in Europe. Arriva employs more than 60,000 people and delivers over 2 billion passenger journeys across 14 European countries each year.

For further information on this or Grand Central’s community and stakeholder activity, please contact Hazel Davis – hazeldavis@gmail.com.

For all other Grand Central enquiries please contact:

Sarah Banks/Anna Hodgson

0191 261 4250

GrandCentral@gardiner-richardson.com

sarahb@gardiner-richardson.com

pr@grandcentralrail.com