From big screen brilliance to the fine art of boxing: National Lottery-funded projects helping to underpin Bradford 2025’s story

From big screen brilliance to the fine art of boxing, £15.6M of National Lottery funding to organisations creating work to celebrate the City of Culture is helping to make magic moments and build a cultural legacy for the future of the city and district.

Here are just a few of our highlights:

Yorkshire’s stories on the big screen

Epic Yorkshire showcases stories made and shaped by those who call it home – from gritty urban dramas to romantic windswept landscapes - Bradford has been the backdrop to dramas big and small, captured in National Science and Media Museum’s Epic Yorkshire film programme for Bradford 2025, with support through the BFI.

Rachel Bottomley from Bradford UNESCO City of Film explains: “The Epic Yorkshire programme is all about a celebration of Yorkshire on screen that really screams Bradford and screams Bradford films.

“Being named City of Culture really showcases to the UK how great it is in Bradford and being able to showcase what we can do, what our artists can do, what kind of culture we have in Bradford. I'd really like to see that grow and expand and become bigger.”

Turning Bradford’s streets into galleries

BD: Walls is an ambitious exhibition with a difference, turning Bradford District into a gallery of street art, transforming unused spaces into vibrant murals with the support of The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Sven Shaw’s ‘Growing Together’ has transformed a quiet corner of Girlington into a community garden. Flowers bloom from a vine representing different local communities creating something beautiful together. The rose represents both England and Slovakia, jasmine symbolises Pakistan, the lotus stands for India, the waterlily represents Bangladesh and the DRC, the yellow trumpet flower signifies Nigeria and the poppy stands for Poland.

The garden is alive with plants and animals drawn by Girlington Primary gardening club and illustrations of familiar Girlington buildings drawn by members of the public.

Artist and illustrator, Sven Shaw, explains “I try and get as much involvement from the community as possible… [such as the] story of an escaped parrot just down the road which made local headlines.

“It's been a real privilege not just to create a brand new piece of work but to also work with the local community. People really want to lend their hand and make Bradford a better looking place.”

Creating cultural connections

Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture’s Our Patch team head to community halls, libraries, faith-led settings and social hubs across Bradford, collaborating with communities to explore creativity in unexpected ways. Inspired by cultural activity taking place on people’s doorsteps, Our Patch celebrates culture where people live, not just in theatres or galleries, made possible by The National Lottery Community Fund.

Uniting the passions and skills of individuals in their local communities makes for intriguing and eye-opening connections. As calligrapher Razwan Ul-Haq explains: “When you're working at a craft and you get really deep into your craft, whether it's the noble art of boxing or whether it's the traditional craft of calligraphy, you come to a point where there's no time — where you're so enmeshed in what you're doing that you transcend the earth.”

Boxing coach Uzair Khan continues: “Calligraphy and boxing are similar. Sometimes boxing can be viewed as very erratic, but it's quite the opposite. To be the best boxer and to be the best calligrapher, you have to remain calm and learn the techniques.”

Running across the whole year of culture, Our Patch isn’t just about celebrating culture. It’s about creating it.

All aboard with The Railway Children

Delighting over 30,000 people this summer, Mike Kenny’s enchanting stage adaptation of E. Nesbit’s classic novel was brought to life with help from Arts Council England. This unique and immersive adaptation transported audiences along the iconic Keighley & Worth Valley Railway, familiar to millions from the film adaptation of The Railway Children.

Chris Boocok is one of the train drivers. “Volunteering at the railway has been a big part of my life — restoring the steam locomotives, maintenance, getting out, driving, firing, and just seeing people enjoy the railway. The Railway Children event has been a big undertaking for us due to the number of passengers. We've got a real mixture of some of our vehicles that normally run on day-to-day and we're also using some of the coaches which we've had here from the very early days of the railway.”

During its 30-year history, The National Lottery has invested £333m in more than 4,000 good causes across each of Bradford’s 30 wards, and the funding for Bradford 2025 will continue to enable inclusive, high-impact cultural, heritage and community work which will leave a lasting legacy on the city.

As Executive Director of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, Dan Bates, sums up “The National Lottery and the National Lottery players have really played their part in making the UK City of Culture such a success.”