Education Partnership North East-Creative Arts Department

In the wake of the August 2024 North East riots, Sunderland College’s Creative Arts Department demonstrated extraordinary leadership in fostering inclusion, social cohesion, and pride in community. Launching Thread of Life as part of a Gold Standard induction, the project brought together students from diverse cultural, ethnic, and social backgrounds to explore, document, and celebrate the changemakers who shape Sunderland’s identity.

This ambitious initiative tackled the raw, divisive emotions left by the riots—both among those directly targeted and those influenced by the misinformation and fear that fuelled the unrest. Through photography, media, music, and performance, students captured the “stories” of local champions, crafting multi-sensory narratives that were brought together in an immersive exhibition at the Sheepfolds venue. The project created a safe, creative space for difficult conversations, enabling students to engage with difference, confront prejudice, and work collaboratively despite differing viewpoints and lived experiences.

The educational impact on young people was profound. Students didn’t just learn technical skills—they developed empathy, active listening, and cross-cultural understanding. This was further strengthened through Hate2Riot, a follow-up immersive learning experience on misinformation and radicalisation, delivered in partnership with Northumbria Police. These opportunities gave students the tools to recognise and challenge exclusionary narratives in their own lives and communities.

The ripple effect was equally powerful beyond the classroom. The exhibition drew over 500 visitors, including civic leaders, MPs, housing sector representatives, and community organisations. Influential figures such as the Head of Sunderland Council, the Northern Housing Consortium, and regional anti-racism advocates championed the project, sharing its message across the North East and nationally. Open Yer Eyes, a poem born from the project, has since been performed at national housing sector events and highlighted as a unifying call for tolerance and hope.

What makes Thread of Life stand out is its refusal to shy away from complexity. It tackled sensitive issues with honesty, creativity, and mutual respect—turning a moment of regional division into an opportunity for education, reconciliation, and shared pride. It showed that young people are not just future leaders but active shapers of inclusive communities today.

Sunderland College’s Thread of Life exemplifies “Inclusion by Default”: celebrating diversity as a strength, empowering students as changemakers, and inspiring a region to see itself not through the lens of hate, but through the everyday acts of kindness, resilience, and creativity that unite us.