We are a community-based arts and heritage organisation with CIC status. Founded in 2014 we promote heritage, culture and arts activities that build on and contribute to Bolton’s identity and resilience. We have run Arts and Music Festivals, events including guided walks and cabaret nights, research and archive projects. In 2018/19 we created a Bill Naughton Festival celebrating the life and work of Bolton’s most successful author. We work in partnership with many others including Bolton Libraries and Museums Service, University of Bolton, schools and specialist interest groups (eg Bolton Documentary Photography). We are funded from a range of sources including private sponsorship, donations and fund-raising, Bolton’s Community Fund and the National Lottery (HLF and ACE).
Before Covid we organised monthly Cultural Cabaret Nights (at Courtyard 36) and Modern Jazz Nights (at the Olympus Restaurant). Since Covid we have created a number of on-line events and activities including a series of on-line walks, a monthly literary magazine ‘Worktown Words’, photography competitions and exhibitions, plus events celebrating World Poetry Day and the launch of Poetry from the Platform (an anthology celebrating the opening of new studios at Platform 5 to create community-run meeting and exhibition facilities).
In 2022/23 we developed a series of short radio plays highlighting the work of community groups in Bolton. For two years we have been producing ‘Side Door’. a quarterly arts and culture programme for Bolton FM. Over the same period we have been running monthly Cabaret Nights at Bolton Socialist Club. We are now (as of August 2024) planning a Festival of Ideas for 2025 looking at the future for post-industrial towns like Bolton and the role of creativity and culture in their revival.
In the following bios, please click on the arrowhead to reveal more information.
Directors
Dave Morgan, Secretary
Dave Morgan is a writer, community educator and arts organiser based in Bolton, working extensively across the North West as a trainer, facilitator and consultant.
Twenty years ago he co-founded Write out Loud with Julian Jordon, as a vehicle for encouraging participation in spoken word. In 2014 he co-founded Live from Worktown, a CIC which has organised arts festivals, jazz promotions, anthologies, photography projects, workshops and cabaret nights on limited funding. It has a quarterly magazine programme on Bolton FM, ‘Side Door’, which interviews people who make a difference to Bolton’s arts, culture and heritage agenda.
Dave has had work-related books and articles published over the years but only began submitting creative work to magazines after gaining confidence through WoL.
Photo: Julia Uttley
Brad B Wood, Press Liaison
Brad B Wood is an educator, organiser, musician and radio presenter who has been active in Bolton’s music, arts and culture scene for over thirty years.
Having started by playing in bands himself, Brad went on to set up a record label while promoting, managing and booking artists. These days he presents Friday Drive Time on Bolton FM where he shines the spotlight on local musicians and creatives while playing, “All the hits to help you home…”
Having a background in history and a career teaching and leading in primary, secondary and special schools, Brad brought this experience to his heritage and education work for Live from Worktown, creating and delivering the Bill Naughton schools project and project-managing, producing and narrating the downloadable self-guided Worktown Walks.
Photo: Julia Uttley
Peter Firth, Treasurer
Peter has been a member of Live from Worktown since 2017 where, following a career in charity management, his knowledge of the not-for-profit sector comes in useful.
He currently runs a community enterprise supporting charity, community, and faith groups. His creative pursuits include: producing and editing LFW’s radio programme Sidedoor; composing music and playing piano and keyboards, which led to instigating and compering LFW’s monthly Cultural Cabaret at the Little Bolton Town Hall until the Covid lockdown kicked in; contributing poems to LFW’s writing anthologies. Also, running LFWs Heritage Walks project combines his interest in local heritage and local walks.
Photo: Peter Firth
Julia Uttley, Chairperson
Julia is a photographer who moved to Bolton in 2015 and has fallen for its many charms, from its rich history to the beauty of the surrounding moors.
Julia saw an opportunity to combine her interests by joining Live from Worktown in 2020. With a focus on visual arts, Julia leads on photography competitions, art exhibitions, and led the initiative to engage Boltonians in the 2024 Mass Observation Diary Day. She contributes to the Side Door radio programmes, interviewing artists and creatives in this field and supports the summer schedule of My Place Walks.
After reluctantly admitting to fellow LfW colleagues that she has a background in computer science, she has created and now manages the LfW web-site.
Photo: Don Tonge
Associates
Romina Ramos
Romina Ramos is a Portuguese writer, poet and editor settled in Bolton for over two decades. She recently graduated from the University of Bolton.
With a first class degree in Creative Writing, she co-runs Natter, a monthly open mic night for creatives to come together and share their art. Romina has edited for a number of creative writing magazines and journals both in print and online, including The Bolton Review, Roots by The Wee Sparrow Poetry Press. Her own work often explores the nuances of dislocation, migration and belonging.
For LfW, Romina brings her literary and editing talents to run Worktown Words, the bi-monthly online poetry anthology.
Photo: Kody Egan, Snippit Media
Laura Kovaleva
Laura Kovaleva is an ESOL teacher. Her love for learning and adventure inspires her to explore new places and learn about their history.
After joining the Woodland Trust history volunteer group, she became one of the authors of the book ‘Lives and Times of the Smithills Estate’. Laura shares her passion for history and nature in the songs she accompanies on the guitar. Born in Moscow, Laura has spent one-third of her life in Bolton. This part of the world feels like home for her, especially when she sees the Winter Hill mast in the distance while returning from a long drive.
Photo: Yelena Overchenko