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As Salford marks its 100th anniversary as a city, an ambitious grassroots project named Salford Voices is reshaping how local people see their past, present and future. Run by socially engaged arts organisation Art with Heart, this citywide initiative is putting Salfordians firmly at the heart of the centenary celebrations.
Art with Heart is on a mission to capture what it truly means to be from Salford, not in council chambers or city press releases, but in the words and hopes and dreams of the people who live there.
“When we talk to people about culture,” said Rachel, co-creative director at Art with Heart, “they don’t necessarily talk about art or creativity. They talk about community. About identity. About being a Salfordian.”
Salford Voices by Art with Heart
Rachel runs Art with Heart with fellow creative director Sarah Emmett. The two-person team expands and contracts as projects demand, collaborating with artists, educators and community groups across Salford and beyond. Though small in number, the impact of their work is big, often deeply rooted in community dialogue and social change.
Their latest project began last year, following a collaboration with Salford Council’s culture team. It involved heading out into local communities to ask a deceptively simple question: what does being Salfordian mean to you?
The answers were revealing, and pointed to something deeper than events or performances.
“People talked about DIY culture. They talked about community resilience, the sort where, if you’re not being served by institutions, you find a way to serve one another,” said Rachel.
That insight helped lay the groundwork for a larger idea, one that would bring a more personal, ground-up energy to the city’s centenary celebrations. Art with Heart is handing the mic to everyday Salfordians and asking them to reflect and reimagine their city.
Myth-busting Salford stereotypes
Photo by Joe Smith
Salford’s identity has long been shaped by contrast, with its bigger sibling next door, Manchester, and by outside perceptions that often focus on struggle rather than strength.
“People sometimes feel like Salford doesn’t have a centre in the way Manchester does,” Rachel reflected. “There’s a sense of being sidelined, not just from national government, but even locally.”
Yet travel through Salford’s many neighbourhoods, from Broughton to Barton to Eccles, and a different picture emerges. “There’s an incredible sense of identity here,” she added. “And pride. People don’t say they’re from Manchester. They say they’re from Salford. There’s a real distinction, a real self-determination.”
Salford may have a reputation for being deprived in parts, but Art with Heart is determined to spotlight the overlooked: stories of strength and creativity.
“We’ve uncovered so many exciting initiatives across Salford,” said Rachel. “We knew there was a strong community here, but we didn’t realise just how much creativity and innovation was bubbling beneath the surface.”
Pop-Ups and Pride
A core part of the centenary project involves a series of pop-up events across the city. From local parks to libraries, Art with Heart is creating spaces for conversations that are accessible, informal and joyfully unfiltered. Think bunting, badges, street art, sketchbooks and shared memories.
“We’re going into spaces people already feel comfortable in,” said Rachel. “Community events, summer fairs, libraries. We want to reach people who might not usually attend a big ‘arts event’, because their voices are equally important.”
One such event took place at Barton Community Centre, a hub with strong roots in the neighbourhood. It was here that the team worked on a cross-cultural project bringing together long-time Salford residents with new arrivals, particularly those who’ve moved from Hong Kong under the British National (Overseas) visa scheme.
“It was amazing to see people sharing their love for Broughton, whether they’d lived there for 60 years or six months,” Rachel recalled. “And hearing how people new to the area are experiencing northern life, the warmth, the humour, even the weather!”
By inviting a diversity of experience, from lifelong dockers to first-time arrivals, the project paints a fuller, more truthful portrait of Salford’s identity in 2025: working-class and resilient, yes, but also modern, diverse, and rich in lived experience.
What does it mean to be from Salford?
At the heart of the project lies a beautifully simple ambition: to ask Salfordians what it means to be a Salfordian. From vox pops to poetry workshops, badge-making to memory boards, residents are invited to contribute thoughts, stories and dreams, all feeding into a growing community-created piece called The Salfordian Manifesto.
“It’s part celebration, part declaration,” said Rachel. “We’re capturing not just what people love about Salford, but what they want for its future. What they’d like to see change. What they want to protect.”
In the autumn, two ‘roving poets’ will travel across the borough, visiting cafes, parks and public spaces, gathering fragments of these conversations and weaving them into poetic responses.
“We’re really interested in mixing creative responses with real words from real people,” Rachel explained. “So the manifesto won’t just be a list. It’ll be expressive. Playful. Human.”
Once complete, Salfordian Manifesto will be shared with civic leaders, local institutions and community organisations, a kind of people-powered vision statement for the next hundred years.
“We hope it gives decision-makers something real to respond to,” said Rachel. “Because these voices matter. They’re the ones who’ve built this city.”
Salford’s Centenary Celebration book
Another key element of the project is the Centenary Celebration Book, a physical volume that’s travelling with the team to each event, collecting handwritten messages from participants. These range from reflections on the past to messages for future generations of Salfordians.
“We’re inviting people to write what Salford means to them now,” Rachel explained, “but also what they want future Salfordians to know, what kind of city they hope it becomes.”
The book will be signed not only by locals, but also by some well-known Salford figures. Once full, it’ll be deposited into the local history library at Salford Museum, a kind of time capsule, ready to be opened another hundred years from now.
“This is Salford’s story, told by Salford”
What’s striking about this centenary work is that it isn’t just about marking a milestone. It’s about rebalancing the narrative. Shifting the lens. Giving weight to voices that are too often overlooked.
“This is Salford’s story, told by Salford,” Rachel said simply.
There’s a raw power in that. A counterbalance to top-down commemorations and PR gloss. By focusing on joy as well as struggle, imagination as well as memory, the team behind Art with Heart is capturing something vital and enduring, the pulse of a city that refuses to be defined by stereotype.
“We’re not trying to romanticise Salford,” Rachel added. “But we are celebrating its spirit, the humour, the grit, the inventiveness, the care people show for each other.”
And if the past hundred years have been shaped by that spirit, it’s a safe bet that the next hundred will be too.
How to get involved with Salford Voices
Salford Voices will be popping up across the city from Saturday 23rd to Thursday 28th August, offering free creative activities for all ages. Residents can join Art with Heart and artists Phoebe Foxtrot and Sarah Hardacre at locations in Irlam and Cadishead, Swinton, and Ordsall, where they’ll be inviting people to make crafts, share stories, and reflect on what Salford means to them.
Whether you’ve lived in the city your whole life or are new to the area, everyone is welcome to take part. The artwork, stories and ideas collected will shape a Salfordian manifesto and become part of the city’s centenary celebrations in 2026, ultimately being archived at Salford Museum and Art Gallery’s Local History Library as a legacy for future generations.
You can find out more by clicking here
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