AN ARTS project aimed at celebrating south-west Burnley is preparing to run for a second year.

Ground Up, which is managed by Burnley Council, is about to recruit two artists to host a series of workshops aimed at highlighting the area’s community spirit.

Artist Iain Broadley, one of three collaborators involved in overseeing Ground Up, said he wanted to challenge the negativity which is often associated with that part of the town.

For the purposes of the scheme, south-west Burnley refers to the area bounded by Accrington Road, Manchester Road, Rossendale Road and Trafalgar Street.

Mr Broadley, 48, said: “This is about recording the heritage, families and memories that make up this town.

“People look at it in a negative light but there is a great deal of strength and great bonds that exist here.

“We hope that through photography workshops and by filming a great deal of the project we can help preserve people’s stories.

“We started last August but we’re looking to extend that by getting two more artists in to help.

“We’re helping people to help themselves.”

Funding for the project, worth almost £17,000, will come from Lancashire County Council, the Arts Council for England and housing developers Keepmoat.

Mr Broadley will be assisted by another artist, Cath Ford, and ethnographer Dr Steph Hawke.

In the past 12 months the artists have created the South West Street Museum, which centres on the collection of stories, memories and photographs which are donated in person and online.

The material could also soon appear as a pop-up museum around the area.

A spokesman for Ground Up said: “Ground Up wants to explore local culture and how people make meaning of this area in south-west Burnley.

“It’s about finding ways of making the intangible tangible, the invisible visible and valuing the everyday.”