Introducing our Telford & Wrekin
Forging Links Coordinator – Marc Petty
Background
Get A Word In Edgeways is running a National Lottery Arts Council – funded project, Forging Links. Its purpose is to Forge Links with the neighbouring Wolverhampton, Telford & Wrekin, and South Shropshire for a Forging Links Festival in 2024. This festival intends to bring our communities together, and celebrate our diversity & shared geographical heritage.
Through pre festival engagement activities of poetry, spoken word, writing, comedy & storytelling we will build on our relationship with local rural schools & develop relationships with schools in Telford & Wolverhampton & also community groups with a particular focus on young people, families & children.
Marc Petty
Marc has been managing community projects in east Shropshire for two decades, promoting a wide range of historic and natural heritage, and working with a varied array of partners to celebrate what our area has to offer; from wildlife sites teeming with biodiversity, to ground-breaking social history, and a rich local arts scene with an international tradition.
The Wrekin and the Wenlock Edge are two of the most visible natural landmarks in the Shropshire Hills, and form an obvious connection between our two areas. They share many rich literary associations, too, which continue to the present day. Marc is looking forward to expanding those cultural links by showcasing a young, vibrant and forward-looking area that is perhaps not as widely-known as it deserves to be.
Marc is one of three regional Engagement Coordinators for Forging Links who are and engaging with communities in Wolverhampton, Telford & Wrekin, and South Shropshire.
