An army of volunteer castle builders are needed over the summer to help assemble a giant castle in Victoria Square – using cardboard, tape, and plenty of community spirit.
As part of the Arts Council England, City Region Combined Authority, and Global Streets Strategic Touring Programme-funded ‘Lost Castles’ project, six extraordinary structures- some based on actual medieval forts or historic structures – will be created in each area within the Liverpool City Region.
In St Helens, the project is being led by St Helens Council and local arts organisation the Heart of Glass which will see Stuttgart Old Castle partially recreated and built on Victoria Square to commemorate the 70th twinning anniversary between St Helens and the German city of Stuttgart.
Workshops suitable for participants over the age of 8 years will take place in the Assembly Hall, St Helens Town Hall on mornings between 9:30am-12:30pm or afternoons 1:30am -5:30pm from Sunday 5 August until Wednesday 8 August.
The big build on Friday 10 August also requires 150 volunteers and is expected to take around 11 hours to complete.
Once erected, the castle will stand proudly in Victoria Square outside St Helens Town Hall until Sunday 12 August before it is dismantled, with the cardboard then taken away to be recycled.
Volunteers are also required to participate in the demolition between 1pm -4pm on the Sunday.
Encouraging residents to come out in force to take part in this once in a lifetime event, Councillor Gill Neal, St Helens Council’s portfolio holder for building arts and culture, said:
“As the Liverpool City Region’s pioneering Borough of Culture, we’ve made a thriving arts and culture scene a real priority going forward and we’re quite literally building on our already great foundations by taking parts in exciting projects like Lost Castles which is an honour for us to be a part of.
“With this year marking 150 years since St Helens became a municipal borough, it would be fitting to see 150 volunteers take part in this culturally creative event which I’m sure communities will be talking about for years to come.
“A few weeks ago we held the successful St Helens Day Parade which saw a great number of community groups come forward – so this is another unique opportunity for the community to get involved in creating something special.”
To participate in this exciting project and become a builder of the St Helens Lost Castle, please go to https://www.surveymonkey.co.
