Exploring the human quest for home 

Postcards from the Edge celebrate National Writing Day 

Young people will take centre stage at this year’s Freedom Festival as they participate in Postcards from the Edge, a new project launched by the Trust that produces Hull’s annual arts festival, which explores the concept of identity, place and the human quest for home. 

Supporting National Writing Day, which takes place on Wednesday 26 June, local children and young people have been encouraged to explore their own identity and the identity of their city, considering the wonderfully rich and diverse cultures that make up the communities of the place they call home. 

Freedom Festival Arts Trust and its passionate team of volunteers have been working with Ron Dearing UTC, Winifred Holtby School, Collingwood Primary and Sutton Park Primary School on this new project, which will form part of this year’s Freedom Festival.  

Jenny Howard-Coombes, Executive Director and Joint CEO at Freedom Festival Arts Trust, explained: “National Writing Day is an annual celebratory project designed to inspire people across the UK to get writing. The message is simple: everyone has a story to tell and sharing it can be a source of pleasure and power, which links perfectly to Freedom Festival.  

“Hull is located on the edge of the country – right on the east coast of England. It is a place where we call home, a place we’re fiercely proud of and a city that is home to many great things, including Freedom Festival – the UK’s largest international arts festival, which attracts artists from all across the world to the city. 

“Hull is a gateway to the world and home to many people from across the globe. As part of National Writing Day, we’ve been asking young people what they think about this place we call home by creating a postcard from the edge. We want to spread the word about Hull, celebrating our identity in this celebration of this incredible place. 

“It has been wonderful and inspiring to connect with young people and engage with them in discussions around home, place, identify and freedom and to provide an output for their expression. It’s vital we encourage young people to develop their own voice, to create opportunities to explore and share different perspectives and it’s even more critical that we support them in making their voice heard. That’s exactly what Postcards from the Edge is about, underpinned by a programme of work that encourages participants to embrace words, to write freely and to lose themselves in a moment.  

“An exhibition of their work, which will also include poetry, slogans and visual art will form part of this year’s Freedom Festival and postcards created by Hull’s young people will also be distributed on Hull Trains as we spread the word about our great city and its international arts festival and continue to champion this great city.”